


Ryders versus The Antagonist

by KeJae



Series: Ryder Series [1]
Category: Chuck (TV), White Collar
Genre: Gen, non-explicit references to child harm (reason for drastic efforts to hide and protect children)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-06
Updated: 2014-07-27
Packaged: 2018-01-18 08:45:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 34,607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1421989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KeJae/pseuds/KeJae
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if nearly everyone is more than they seem and the story you think you know is only a part of a greater picture?  Read to see the events you think you know and the secrets behind them.</p>
<p>This story is now completed :D</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer:  
> They say that “there is nothing new under the sun” and this story is of no exception. This is just my particular sandcastle built with other people’s sand in the online sandbox of fanfiction.  
> The idea has been rolling around in my head for a while now (years?) so I don’t know where everything came from. General inspiration is obviously Chuck and White Collar with a few recognizable inspirations from fanfiction, MacGyver, Sherlock Holmes (the books), Sue Thomas FBI, and some random google searches to set up information.
> 
> Thank you:  
> A thank you to Quinis for requesting for me to write my idea down in the first place and encouraging me to keep going. Also, for being a person to talk to for questions on the process, bouncing ideas of off to gain direction, providing questions which led me to coming up with answers to fill in the plot, and for sharing and allowing me to use a few irresistible ideas.  
> Also, thank you to my family, and friend who read this story providing critiques, opinions, and some editing.

***********

Things all started with the антагонист or for simplicities sake the Antagonist. They are a criminal empire who seek to rule the underground as a faceless shadow lurking behind the fear and corruption they spread. Four generations ago a small task force of intelligent law men were put together to find the reasons behind the growing crime rate in the New York area. During their investigations this task force accidentally stumbled into the Antagonist’s web discovering their existence behind the veil and the war for justice versus dominion began.

These two groups eventually became known as the families, or the lineage of those law men fighting for justice, and the Antagonists, or the lineage of those who fight for dominion via crime. The battle ground ranges all over the world through any field imaginable. Combatants on the family’s side tend to range through military service, consulting, and working for agencies such as the CIA, NSA, FBI, and DEA. Even civilians not directly involved with the work often end up assisting in some form or another. Their personal skills tend to include music, dancing, art, medicine, athletics, academics, and engineering (particularly computers). They excel in their areas of choice being known for keen intelligence, quick reflexes, good decision making, strong leader ship, and experience all starting at a disheartening young age. On the other hand, the Antagonists are willing to do whatever it takes to ensure that their control remains, while endeavoring to expand beyond their current realm. They have been known to have persons involved with such organizations as Fulcrum/Ring, Volkoff Industries, and many other well-known criminal endeavors. Each of the persons involved can be compared to a man known as Matthew Keller, and remembered to be ruthless, determined, and eerily intelligent.

Going head to head, these two would be the makings of a modern version for “Clash of the Titans.” Alas, for the better, or for the worse they instead dance around each other in a long and complicated game of chess. A key piece is something the families created when a young man, named Steven Ryder (aka Steven Bartowski/Orion), came up with the idea for the Intersect. For the families, this super computer was the hope for the future. It could be used to store massive amounts of data, compute the information matching details the mind didn’t connect, as well as be uploaded into the secure location of a trusted agent’s brain for easy field use. The goal was based around the general idea that information and preparedness would out do the devious powers of the Antagonist.

Like all plans tend to go, there were unintended consequences. With the first run Orion accidentally turned his best friend Hartley into the criminal mastermind Alexei Volkoff himself, basically changing the lamb into the lion. Initially, this was intentional as Hartley the docile scientist was needed for a joint operation between the CIA and MI6 where the main role was, Volkoff, the criminal mastermind and the expected duration was only a few months. It didn’t take long for it to be realized that somehow the Intersect had changed him and under its influence, he really became Volkoff. Upon this discovery two sectors of the Antagonist began seeking to gain their own versions of the Intersect. They used Fulcrum/Ring to go after the means of information and computing abilities, while those monitoring Volkoff industries sought to better understand how to use the Intersect to alter people by manipulating the mind. As it is known, Operation Bartowski was vital in stopping Fulcrum/Ring from succeeding, but unbeknownst to them, they were too late to stop the efforts within Volkoff.

Years prior, when Chuck was little more than a toddler, he was victim to the sector of the Antagonist who sought to change people. The Детскийплечо, or leverage for their tendency to take people away and using them as hostages, succeeded in abducting him and giving him a partial run through of their Intersect. This changed him so that he was afraid of needles and heights, which for a kid who had planned to be a doctor and fly planes, that was a big difference. It was intended to alter the little guy so that he believed he was one of the Antagonists, but his parents managed to rescue him first. In order to prevent another attempt they started a trend in the families by disappearing, moving to California, and creating identities for the normal Bartowski family.

While they were lucky enough to get Chuck back relatively unharmed, Steven’s older brother Ryan wasn’t so lucky. His son Ryan Peter, or Peter, was abducted and put through the Intersect successfully. The Antagonists set him up with handlers who raised him as their son Peter Burke so that he no longer knew who he really was. Why didn’t the families pull another rescue and simply remove the Intersect? Because, the handlers had two strengths. If attempts to rescue were made Peter would fight to avoid abduction (since that is what it would appear to be to him), and if rescue was successful the handlers could simply use an implanted chip to kill him no matter the distance.

Peter was not the only successful alteration effort of this kind. Another was his younger cousin William Cade Ryder, the son of Steven’s twin brother Nicholas. While Peter was an only child, Will most definitely was not. He had his eldest brother Joseph Cole, followed by his uniquely identical quadruplet brothers Nicholas Neal, Alexander Bryce, Zachary Levi, himself, and eventually a younger set of twin sisters Moriah Renee and Mary Lynn. Finally, Will’s cousin Elizabeth Anne Brennan, Mary Bartowski’s older sister Rachel’s daughter, was also abducted. Ironically, El grew up to marry her cousin’s cousin Peter Burke. With these three held as leverage against them it was impossible for the families to triumph without losses they could not risk.

With the Antagonist targeting their strikes at the children more and more, the families all went their separate ways, changed names, and became new people disappearing into the masses for a while. Creating new identities gave the parents of the children who had been taken, or lost ones, the opportunity to change their appearance and find ways to watch over their children while endeavoring not to endanger them by getting to close. Still, not knowing where the others had gone, or who they had become made for strange coincidences and tragic consequences in later years.

As time does, it passes. Things began to change with the next generation coming of age to officially join the battle as agents and soldiers in combat. These young men and women had watched family being taken away, suffered the consequences of being victims to the Antagonist’s cruel techniques, and learned skills of survival and disguise to become whoever they needed to be in order to remain undetected. Being the name sake of the original task force leaders, it only seemed natural, that Nicholas Neal became the leader of this new generation. Despite being at the younger end of the crew he was one of the more experienced, motivated, and determined of the bunch. This is the story of how the families, led by this young man, proved once again that no matter how dire things seem, good triumphs over evil in the end.

**********


	2. Chapter 1: Becoming Caffrey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The real story of how Neal Caffrey came into existence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the reviews, follows, and favorites! I am excited to see what people think. :D
> 
> This story is complete, but I will only be posting the new chapters on Sundays. I am in the process of writing the excerpts and hope to have them completed by the time the main story is entirely up.

Friday and mortgage fraud. What a horrible combination! No wonder the agents are all sitting around trying to look like they are busy until a reasonable time to head home. Personally, I was an early bird for this charade as I have been faking it almost all day. My stack of files were completed quickly and I have been pretending to do research for the last half an hour. Instead of focusing on work, my mind has been wondering back to how I got to be here playing Neal Caffrey in the first place.

*******

The tale starts like any other life, on my birthday, in Washington DC. My parents are Nathan and Moriah Camden, both agents for the DEA, and I have an identical twin brother Neal Thomas. Following a family tradition I am named Nathan Daniel for my father and Neal is named for our grandfathers. To start what separated me from my family we have to tell what happened to the real Neal George Bennett.

Bennett was born the same day and at the same hospital just down the hall from Neal and me. However, what was supposed to be the beginning of long lives for the three of us just turned out a few short hours for Bennett. He was born with some health issues, what was never known for sure, and when the doctor tried to treat him little Bennett reacted badly and died. Fearing a malpractice law suit the doctor sought to hide the death. It turned out that the nursery had two healthy dark haired blue eyed boys of the same age and relative size. No one would notice if he switched young Bennett out for one of the Camden twins, right? Well, it turns out that although "my" death was due to unknown causes, it was assumed that one of the family enemies got to me as a warning to my parents, and the switch was unsuspected for eighteen years.

I was raised as Neal Bennett the son of a DC cop named James Bennett and his wife. For two years I was my daddy's little boy, and my mommy's little angel. Then Kathryn Hill, James' partner, caught him red handed for murder and life took another twisting turn. While James turned state's evidence, Mrs. Bennett, Katie, and I were put into Witness Protection. For the next fifteen years I was Danny Brooks the kid without a father, had a mother who withdrew into herself, and an Aunt Ellen who tried to make up for what was lacking in my life. Ellen spent much of her free time trying to teach me. She and the Marshals all invested time to share their knowledge, tips, experience, and the promise of recommendations for the academy when I came of age. I grew to be independent, observant, capable of defending myself, adept at being who ever I wanted to be, and other skills that would be necessary for me to be a good cop.

When I went to college I got my degrees in law and art history from an Ivy League institution. I graduated top of my class with honors at the young age of seventeen. After graduation I had almost a year off to work and prepare for my future before I would be of age to begin my goals. For my eighteenth birthday Ellen threw me a party with just the two of us. There I told her my plans and showed her the registration papers for the academy that I had filled out. Then my life was turned upside down for a third time.

I still remember the way Ellen said "There is something I have to tell you…" It was obvious that something bad was coming. First, she told me that my father was a dirty cop. When I refused to believe her, she told me she had proof, and that when I was ready I could have it. Secondly, she went on to explain what his actions had done to my life. That evening I learned that I was not from St. Louis, my name was Neal, and my father was alive. As if that wasn't enough, she finally told me her suspicions. She felt it was time that I knew, as it might help soften the other blows. Well, it kind of softened them, otherwise it just made the situation worse.

Growing up under the impression that Bennett was a heroic cop who went down in the line of duty, I wanted to be just like him and sought the proofs that I was my father's son every chance I could get. Mom always told me that my father was the blue in my eye and this was the one connection I had to him. Otherwise, it was easier to address the differences than the similarities between my parents and me. From physical appearance to intelligence, through personality, morals, skills, ECT I bore little resemblance to my heritage. Really, my eyes are a different shade of blue, so even the eye color was more wishful thinking than reality. Ellen's theory for this was simple. I wasn't a Bennett or a Caffrey at all. Watching me grow up and how it became more and more difficult to see any resemblance, she had long since suspected something to be off. But who thinks of being switched at birth, most just think I took after more distant relations, or was the product of the milk man breed of scenarios. Still, whatever the cause, I didn't appear to be a Bennett. I was secretly tested without Mrs. Bennett's knowledge and sure enough, my identity was one big blank spot. I was relieved not to be the son of a murderer, but really there was nothing to say I wasn't the son of a mass murderer. So, here I was eighteen ready to face the world with two degrees and no idea who I really was or what to do now.

James was in state's evidence, Mrs. Bennett was in wit-sec and had withdrawn appearing to have suspected the truth that I wasn't her son on some level of mother's intuition, and with the promise from Ellen to keep in touch I was ready to go and leave my past of lies behind, but where to was still a mystery. Ellen rescued me with her suggestion that I work for the DEA through an old friend of hers and make my own life to determine for myself who I wanted to be. It took a while for the papers and all of the approvals for a "no name" agent to be organized, but in the end, who wouldn't want a genius child prodigy?

My boss decided that with my former ties to James it could be helpful for me to work the task force going after some of his old cohorts. These men had current ties to art via the forging industry which they used for laundering drug money. I was a perfect candidate being raised the son of Bennett who always wanted to follow in daddy's footsteps, and an artist with an encyclopedic knowledge of the industry. Even as a rookie I was quickly placed in the lead role and worked the streets to build the initial reputation for what became Operation Caffrey. The intent was to get street credibility as a criminal with a talent for forging and a desire to advance in the industry. I used the name Caffrey to reduce the bad reputation with the law due to Bennett's betrayals.

Word spread in the criminal underground about a young new guy and it didn't take long for the calls to roll in. As my reputation grew the cohorts James formerly worked with took the bait and let me into their operation. Having lived a life full of twisting turns I should have expected to be hit again, but I didn't.

The operation proceeded like normal, we exchanged work for payment, but no face to face yet as I hadn't become trusted. After a few months I passed all of the initial tests and was about to be introduced into the inner circle. We had a meeting set for a warehouse outside of the city and I was to come alone. We had a safe monitoring system in place, back up ready, and I was set for the meet. Walking into the warehouse I was greeted by all guns pointed at me and a series of angry insults.

We knew FBI was working an angle with this group, but had no idea the implications it would have when we went in for the bust. It turns out that the lead agent for the FBI was my twin brother Neal of all coincidences. The crew thought I was the FBI playing them and it quickly went bad. They abducted me out the back, removed my wires, and disappeared before my back up could bust down the door. It took twelve hours to track me down, rescue me, make the arrests, and by then I had been beaten within an inch of my life.

An ambulance rushed me to the hospital where another prodigy, a doctor, by the name of Nicholas Neal Ryder was a part of my medical team. The surgery went well and I was placed in ICU for recovery. While treating me Nick was suspicious. Although he hadn't seen Neal since before the families split up, he recognized me for who I really was. Between him recognizing me, and my team tracing down the FBI agent I was mistaken for, it didn't take long for my identity problem to be cleared up. Everything was all taken care of by the time I woke up and my family was waiting outside to meet me once the news had been broken. Finally, there was a good twist in my life's journey and things started to become what they should have been all along.

*******

A tap on my desk jerks me back to the present. Glancing up at Peter who is standing in front of my desk, then to the clock on the wall I realize that I successfully tuned out the office.

"When did it get to be six o'clock already?"

Looking back at Peter he smirks at my quizzical expression and with a laughing voice he asks,

"Find something that good?"

He knows I have been faking it by my expression, as well as I know he's done at least one crossword today by the slight ink stain by his mouth where he accidentally didn't close the pen before thoughtfully putting it to his face. I shrug off his question and he lets it slide.

When he then has a curious expression for my distraction I evade answer with a simple comment of "Memories."

Again he lets me slide, for now, and extends his expected offer of dinner over. Apparently, El is trying a new catering venue for a client with exotic taste and she needs my pallet to judge if this one is acceptable. Following our routine Peter and I leave the office bantering like we always do, and I leave my secret memories behind for another day.


	3. Chapter 2: Operation Caffrey

*******

Safely ensconced in the apartment at June’s, with my security additions guarding the premises, it is a good opportunity for me to relax and do an original, by me painting. No one is around to catch me doing work without the Caffrey personality and it will be quickly tucked away without hesitation when it is finished. I intend for no one to have the opportunity to study the strokes and recognize it as a Neal. It would not be helpful for the office to know that I can do modern works as well as the classics. That would simply open up the possibility of a new investigation and an inquiry into my work which could have disastrous effects if it is connected to the concept that I am playing Caffrey.

As I sweep my brush across the canvas, the resulting streak of color adds to the abstract of the image. My mind is wandering which restrains me from doing my usual, more detailed work. I can’t help but reminisce back through the details of meeting my brother and joining him in Operation Caffrey.

*******

Growing up I had watched my cousins, the identical quads, and even after Will was taken, they had a great camaraderie and could mimic each other to perfection. We always had to work to figure out which one was which when they got to playing their games. A part of me always envied them that ability. I had an identical twin brother too, but I was denied the chance to get to know him, the opportunity to play games and switch places. They were down one, I know, but three remained. For me, down one meant only one remained, and that was a tragedy.

Then Nick discovered that Nate was alive and I got my second chance!

That first night I knew who he was, Nate was still unconscious in the ICU and we couldn’t visit him just yet. Still, through the glass I could see a perfect replica of myself hooked to so many machines it was terrifying. My parents weren’t doing any better than me as they also paced the waiting area. Here they discovered that their oldest was alive after all, and no one had been looking for him. For eighteen years we had the opportunity to get to know him, but we missed out believing him to be dead. Well, we weren’t wasting any more time now that the truth had been discovered.

After Nate woke up his doctor, our cousin, Nick gave him a little time to recover. Once his patient was ready Nick pulled out the files we had compiled while Nate slept and began to fill him in. Nate learned about the Antagonist, our family, our role in the families, and everything else that he would need to know to begin to fill him in on the life he lost. I was later told that Nate was silent for a few minutes as he absorbed the information, then he grinned from ear to ear. It was heartening to know that he was happy to discover who he really was, and that he didn’t blame us for our mistake in not looking for him.

Our first meeting didn’t go with two of us happening to pass in a random place and then doing the mirror image thing as we waved our hands or did jumping jacks looking like idiots. Instead, it was in a hospital room with me standing eagerly, yet awkwardly, and my brother laying in the bed fidgeting with the sheets nervously while staring at me.   I decided to start the conversation with a cheesy joke.

“The downside of being identical twins is being mistaken for each other.”

He chuckled and told me that it could be an upside as well. With smiles we began to catch up.

For those first few days we were inseparable going over who we were, where we had been, what our family was like, and anything else we could think of. Nothing was unimportant, no detail too small. Gradually, we had a simple foundation of who we were and it was time to focus on where we were going.

After a few weeks in recovery, and some down time to get things settled officially, we started looking at Operation Caffrey again, but together that time. The task force was DEA and FBI each having our own goals but the same approach. It was arranged that Nate and I would both be playing Caffrey. With Nick’s help we set it up so that Caffrey’s appearance was different than Nate and I. This was to give us the option of being agents as ourselves and criminals as Caffrey, without our physical appearances giving us away again. We set new targets with the Кузнецэкипажа, or the forger ring for the Antagonist and moved the operation to New York City.

Here our team got more interesting with the addition of a street con named Mozzie. He had no idea that his new buddy Neal Caffrey was actually twin DEA and FBI “suits” undercover to catch some of the very forgers they competed with. However, he has helped us make great strides in our efforts. Working with him we got a better idea of how to do the job and Caffrey started to adapt into a legend instead of the local go to guy.

Mozzie’s first target was a big city business man named Vincent Adler. Since there was a DC team who had followed contacts into his office we teamed up with another FBI crew. The undercover FBI agent was posing as Kate Moreau. She and Nate hit it off quickly and began building the guise of a growing office romance. He took lead working opposite of her, and I used my skills as a professional artist, before joining the FBI, to do the forgeries and work with Mozzie. We managed to make this work to our advantage for the most part but, occasionally, I would get caught in a situation where I would have to take lead, and it was awkward having to flirt with my brother’s girlfriend.

Everything was progressing nicely. Caffrey had a set reputation as a criminal to the point of having a White Collar FBI team chasing him, Mozzie remained unaware of the truth, and Kate was getting close to Adler. Then things slipped. It turned out that Adler was onto Caffrey and three teams failed to realize or prevent the giant, billion dollar Ponzi scheme he was pulling off.

Nick came to our rescue. He has been consulting since we teamed up a few years ago and has been building contacts in agencies all over the world and used his resources to take Caffrey to the next level.

At that point we expanded to include the CIA, NSA, and even MI6 to the task force. We were infiltrating the Antagonist all over the world, searching for Adler, and laying ground work to take Caffrey international. Kate was assigned to another task force and Nate followed, working the DEA side. While the love birds strengthened their relationship I was “pining” for Kate and growing the legend of Caffrey.

While Mozzie and I were traveling around the world I was faking crimes and spreading rumors. Alex Hunter was my DEA contact and we made Mozzie an unofficial analyst for our team. Over the years we uncovered nine operations of the Antagonist’s projects, took down several single criminal operations, even made a few enemies like Keller, but no one found a single clue as to where Adler had disappeared to.

Nate and Kate secretly married and we moved Operation Caffrey back to New York. We wanted Caffrey to serve time so that we could transition the operation into our next phase. The White Collar, FBI team who had been chasing us were the perfect means, especially since they were a key part to where we were heading. So, we let them know where Kate was and Nate pretended to fall into the trap, all for the sake of love. Working cases out of the DEA office Nate and Kate kept up the charade that Caffrey was in prison while not breaking cover with the FBI office.

I used an alias with the Antagonist forgery ring and infiltrated the organization. My cover was that I got a look alike to distract the FBI, and paid him well to serve my time. This gave me a clear run to go underground with a clean name. We had knowledge of nine divisions working for this project and I was now inside of the last one…or so I thought.

*******

A signal from my phone alerts me to June’s approach before she reaches the door. In seconds my painting is secreted away into my hiding spot, even Mozzie can’t find it there.

She has reached the door and her gentle knock has me striding across the room to greet her. I am to join her for the evening downstairs. That is a much better way to spend my time than sitting up here thinking about the past, so I agree with a smile and escort her down the stairs. My painting is in no rush to be completed after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading :D
> 
> This is the third chapter out of seventeen with an estimated seventeen chapters of excerpts to follow as an additional story posting later.
> 
> Also, as a heads up. I am adding a warning in the description of the story for some general reference (not detailed because I can't think like that) to violent harm to children later (the reason for such drastic efforts to protect and hide the children growing up).
> 
> Please let me know what you think as this is my first story, and I would like to know what I am doing well and where I could use improvement. :)


	4. Chapter 3: Hope for the Future

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 007 Cole Barker gets to speak about his participation.

Commander Cole Barker 007.

Sitting here, I have nothing to do but stare out the window at dreary London and there isn't much to see. The weather is cold, wet, and dirty so people prefer to stay indoors and there is little activity.

I am restlessly waiting for my next orders either from MI6 or from my undercover role for Operation Dominoes in the Antagonist project черный рынок, or the black market crew of smugglers. With nothing else to do my mind is wandering through the operations and what I am trying to discover.

*******

Once we had infiltrated all ten of the project divisions run by Antagonist, we set up a new name for our operation. The Caffrey Operation became only a cog in the greater operation known as Dominoes. This had the intention of connecting and taking down the entire empire in a series of raids, just like knocking over a domino and watching it take down the rest of the tiles in a game of Dominoes.

My position of smuggling products, information, payments, and anything else that needed to be moved gave me the ability to confirm that we had people inside of every division in the project. The crew is connected to every aspect of the organization so it is vital that I hold my role.

After several months of working my way up through the ranks I discovered what everyone had been seeking for four long generations. The weakness to the Antagonist had been found.

When smuggling I can be called in by any group in the project to move anything. Because of this, I discovered that one crew kept track of who was doing what and all of the details. They encrypted the data using a complex code then the information is sent to the Intersect group. There it is encoded into images Intersect style. Next, these images go to the forgery crew who hides them in forged art work and finally we smugglers take it where ever we are ordered to. In essence this is an information paper trail that can eventually be used to document everything about the Antagonist allowing us to completely take them down.

As I can get my hands on various pieces of this process I forward the information to the analysts. They in turn share it with other analysts involved in Dominoes. So far, we have discovered that the encrypting is based on a key and that the Intersect has an unusual method of encoding. In other words, we have very little until we find the keys to these problems. It's like having a book of everything we need to know laying in front of us and we can't read it no matter how desperately we try.

A while back I got an assignment from my crew boss Larissa. The Fulcrum had gotten a successful version of the Intersect into the head of a "Patient Zero." Data for the patient was hidden on a scientist involved who worked the project code named Salamander. I was given the location of his grave and ordered to retrieve his belt and the attached buckle with the chip hidden inside. After retrieval I was to transport the chip to the Intersect group to be decoded.

My handler from MI6 was notified of the assignment and it became an official mission to retrieve the chip and switch it out for a fake. We added the need to retrieve a decoder to get the information, and create a convincing fake.

The retrieval went without a hitch and I arrived at my hotel safely. My plans were derailed when after a trip to the bar, my company turned out to be Agent Walker.

This led to a shootout with a helicopter, Chuck blowing our efforts to bust Fulcrum, getting captured and tortured…twice, being shot (again, twice), and a whole host of other problems. That's not even mentioning losing the girl (to a nerd of all people), having to decipher grunts for communication, and being stuck in the van when the trouble broke out.

Working with Operation Bartowski wasn't so bad in the end though. It turned out Casey is a great agent and a solid military man, Sarah chose Chuck because he gives her a connection to a real normal life (something she didn't appear to have experienced much), and Chuck seemed to be a smart, good hearted analyst who has kept some of his naïve traits that the rest of us have lost. Still, he did need to learn how to carry a gun, or something, in order to defend himself because after watching him a couple of times, that man was a menace in combat situations.

Finding Perseus was a later addition to the mission. It was hoped that Dr. Busgang would be able to help us decipher the encoding process for the Intersect method used to hide the Antagonist's information in the images. But even with his death, there was still new hope for the operation. After all, Chuck was an active Intersect, and we had found the beginnings of a trail that could lead us to finding Orion. The man was a pro at hiding and had been evading all efforts to find him for years. If Orion was Steven Ryder, or even just had a connection to him, we could find him now that he had showed up on radar again. I was certain that the combination of Steven's knowledge with Chuck's skill at using the Intersect would be everything we needed to discover the key to the Intersect encoding of the Antagonist. This was my hope for the future.

*******

My stomach rumbles reminding me that evening has come. It seems to be a good time to go to the corner pub for a bite and a drink. I put my phones in my pockets so that no matter who may call I can receive my orders and progress my work. Until then there are basic needs to tend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the reviews, I am glad that readers are enjoying the story! :D I spent that last few months writing this and I am excited to share it :)
> 
> This is the shortest chapter in the story, and they get longer as the story gets more involved. I will be posting the cover art next chapter as the introduction describes where the image comes from :D


	5. Chapter Four: Caffrey in the FBI

*******

Blue. It symbolizes trust, loyalty, wisdom, confidence, intelligence, faith, truth, and heaven. It carries an association with depth and stability as well as the sea and sky. At the moment, it is all that I can see.

Laying stretched out here on the brink there is nothing to obstruct my view. No skyscrapers, no traffic, and no bustling crowds of people. I have the weekend off and I am strictly ordered not to do any work of any kind, so I came out to the middle of nowhere.

My personal plane, *Aderes, waits at a nearby airstrip and I climbed my way up the face of the rocks. At the top of the cliffs highest point I could be a million miles away from civilization. There is a reminder of its existence though, a plane trail streaking across the sky. It is the only break in my view of the heavens, and I can’t help but love it anyway. To me it is a freedom unrestrained by boundaries, the feeling of the wind in my hair, and a solitary reprieve unthreatened by interruptions.

If I could fly I would leap off of this cliff and soar. With graceful wings I would leave this world and all of its battles behind. As much as I love every job I do, it is tiring at times. I have fought for my life all of my life and for the lives of others since shortly after I could walk. Everything I do whether it is medicine, consulting, my service in the Air Force, or my role with the NSA is an effort to serve, heal, and protect those who can’t do so for themselves. The heavens have always been my escape from all of this. Eventually loyalty, honor, protectiveness, duty, and my love for my family and friends brings me back. With landing, the mantle of responsibility returns to my shoulders and I again feel the controlling need to be involved and ensure that all is as well as it can be.

Having three younger identical quadruplets and even younger twin sisters, as well as having been attacked with life threatening assaults all of our lives, I developed a protective streak early. This has carried into all of my work and given me a code name of shield and a well-loved nick name of mother hen. One team I worked with had an artist, he created a cartoon depicting a mother hen carrying a shield and guarding her chicks. The hen was me of course and the chicks were all in law enforcement, government, or military uniforms. The sad part is that it stuck and now copies have spread through every division, team, and organization I have ever worked with. It is a bit embarrassing, but I take it as a compliment and a sign that for all the razzing I get, my teams appreciate that I care so much.

Protection. This is the basis of my code name, my work, and the reason for me putting Caffrey into the FBI.

*******

It came time for the Caffrey role to come into play again. Nate and Kate wanted to start a family so Kate disappeared. This served two purposes. The first was to begin removing Kate from the picture, as far as field work went, and secondly to bring Caffrey to Agents Burke’s attention again.

Since we had been gaining so much ground on the Antagonist we feared that any day they would realize just how close we were. Their first targets would be the lost ones. Since Peter, and Elizabeth are two of these lost ones, a position close to them was be a beneficial way to observe what is going on around them and prove obstacles to anyone meaning them harm.

The chosen method for this was to build on Caffrey’s criminal reputation as a benefit to law enforcement. That is the whole point behind confidential informants, criminals who work with the law to take down other criminals. Caffrey could do that. After all, he had secretly been taking criminals down all along.

Agent Burke was our in. He was brought back to the case to investigate Caffrey’s escape. Our insiders at the prison said he smirked on several occasions checking into the details. Those little humorous bits were for his benefit, he always did like a good joke. When he caught up in the apartment the red thread on his shoulder was a happy coincidence, easily identified, and a valid reason to set up a meet with some insurance that it would be accepted. A week after the arrest, our plans were laid out and Peter went home to contemplate the idea of taking on the responsibility of Caffrey as his CI.

We knew Peter had been caught up in the thrill of the chase on more than one occasion. He liked smart, and being played by geniuses, Caffrey fit the role very well. Still, it took a while for Peter to do his research into the case again and debate the pros and cons. In the end, his understanding and hopes for Caffrey lead him to agree.

The terms were a two mile radius, a tracking anklet, and keeping a good closure rate with other more minor specifications. This was easy. With multiple players for the Caffrey role it wasn’t challenging to work both inside and out of the radius, although the anklet was new the trackers weren’t, and all involved with Caffrey had always had high closure rates.

Caffrey’s accommodations didn’t start out so great. I have been in worse as a prisoner, but still not exactly something I wanted to be in long term. Fortunately there was a run in with a lady by the name of June Ellington at a local consignment shop. She graciously agreed to rent a convicted felon her rooftop apartments and not only open her home but her heart as well.

The look on Peter’s face the next morning was priceless and his comment of “You look like a cartoon!” was just one example of his annoyance at the situation.

In the office there was the usual general work place friendliness, the distrustful side glances, and the open animosity for Caffrey. His desk was placed in the open right by the door. A handy location visible from just about any perspective in the office, especially from Peter’s desk. The first case was to catch the Dutchman with the later timeline of the end of the week. This was pulled of and the partnership was off to a slow start.

With Elizabeth, it was even easier to integrate into her life. Her marriage to Peter and long term experience at dealing with the results of Caffrey’s existence made it as simple as showing up. A knock on her door, a well groomed appearance, megawatt smile, combined with a friendly greeting and the introduction of Neal Caffrey had her opening right up. She wanted to meet the man who took her husband’s attention away on so many occasions and she had an unobserved chance, she took it. I am still amused by the look on Peter’s face as he came down the stairs ready to hunt Caffrey to the ends of the Earth only to discover him setting on his couch, petting his dog, and talking to his wife. Even El couldn’t hold back her amusement at Peter’s reaction.

Since the first meeting had occurred it was only a matter of time before Caffrey was accepted as an extended part of the family in the Burke household. In reality, the agents playing Caffrey were all cousins, but that’s beside the point.

My father and Uncle Steven used their engineering magic to set up monitoring systems that the agencies didn’t know about and even Mozzie’s paranoia couldn’t detect. A team moved in nearby with the neighbor cover, we integrated an agent into El’s working environment, and Caffrey had the office covered. With the addition of the backup teams on call 24/7, we had the basics covered to keep them safe.

Then it was a matter of acting out our purpose. For cases and field work we worked to keep Caffrey’s criminal connections and utilized them in solving whatever case came our way. In the office we watched for anyone who seemed suspicious and we turned up a few dirty agents. Some had made bad decisions like Fowler and others were dirty like Kramer, but all of them were problems that we had to deal with in the open or behind the scenes.

Some situations have forced us to take more drastic approaches to keep them safe. That case against the CEO Wesley Kent and the poisoned Armagnac is an example. Peter and Kent were out of it enough in the elevator that neither one had any idea that they were given shots to hold them over until they could receive the antidote. Then there was the Burke seven against Julian Larson. We took on an Antagonist working with Adler so there were the inevitable twists and unexpected attacks. In the open we were catching Mozzie’s shooter and protecting Peter’s name. Behind the scenes we also fended of two attempts for Peter’s life, one for El’s, and blocked off several attempts to blackmail Peter with the false accusations. There were other cases when Peter and/or Elizabeth were kidnapped, attempts at blackmail, threats, traps of various sorts, and attacks of all kinds. It took the full efforts of everyone involved to make sure things didn’t become known, or if known that they were solved quickly with the implication of being a onetime event.

At times it was difficult to hold back pretending to be a nonviolent con whose only helpful skills in these situations were a silver tongue, intelligence that reached outside the box, and criminal actions, but we played along because the stake of losing were far too high.

*******

Orange is now becoming the dominant color around me. It reflects off the water in the distance, the rocks take on its hues, and the sky is ablaze like crackling flames. Laying here I watch the flames change color through the reds, purples, and right down to the last vestiges lighting the horizon. With the moon and stars lighting my way it’s time to set up a fire for dinner and camp for the night.

As the night continues to unfold I am settled in and now free to watch the heavens again. I am caught up in the stories of the stars watching God’s majesty laid out on the universe for a canvas. Comparatively, I am rather insignificant, yet I know he has carried me through everything and that I am of more importance to him than this entire star scape stretched out above me. If it were otherwise, I wouldn’t be here, plain and simple.

With my soul at peace, my mind and body can rest. God will care for my troubles, I will slumber through the night, and tomorrow can care for itself.

***************

*Aderes – Hebrew name for a girl meaning “protector”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for your continued interest in my story :D
> 
> I have a cover for this story that is listed on fanfiction.net, but I don't know how to post it on this site.


	6. Chapter Five: Operations and Nephews

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Chuck side of the story starts coming into play :)

*******

Another mission down and the bad guys are in lock up. The evening is now mine to do with as I please.

Trimming my bonsai I catch sight of the frame hanging on the wall. It’s a collection of family portraits hidden in a greater picture, something that hasn’t been done in my family in over twenty years, since before we split up.

My real name is Alexander Casey Ryder and my family reunion started after I accidentally shot and killed my nephew.

*******

I had been listening over my radio to the reports of Larkin’s progress. He was taking agents down like they were inexperienced and out running the rest like they were standing still.

This was going to come down to me, _grunt_ as usual.

Based on the direction he was heading and the terrain of the buildings in the vicinity I predicted where this would end. Just as I expected he came taking the building in leaps and bounds or monkeying his way down the cables draped along the side. He landed, looked back, and I took my shot. With guys like Larking you shoot to kill, so I did. I could see the moment he stopped breathing, and when I leaned over to check that he was in fact dead, there was something familiar about him that I couldn’t place.

Later, after Larking had been taken in the ambulance I returned to my station to do the paper work. Once that was completed I decided to look deeper, to find the reason for that familiarity. I checked into his records with the CIA (which had been exemplary until his recent rogue activities), his college career, and back to as much of his youth as I could find. As annoying as he was in the field, he seemed to be an all American boy with an innocent background. Then I came upon a picture of him and his parents, and I realized that his appearance was faked, altered to hide his real identity.

Horrified I realized that I had just killed my brother’s son, a nephew that I hadn’t seen in years.

At first I felt really guilty. My older brother Nicholas had one son abducted as little more than a toddler, and I had just shot another of the quads taking him by a more permanent means. Then I thought about a few things. First, said nephew had altered his appearance somehow, was going by a different name, and was the traitor I was ordered to bring down dead or alive. Second, with all of the family ties to agencies and the Intersect it was possible that he was undercover and the rest of us just didn’t know about it. Finally, the kid has been technically killed before and has always had a knack for sticking around until someone came to the rescue. I had hope. Maybe he wasn’t rogue, and maybe I wasn’t responsible for killing him.

After looking into the possibility of contacting my brother, and finding nothing, I was left with no other option but to wait and see how things worked out. The situation was set to the back of my mind and my focus turned back to protecting the Intersect. I was curious to see why Bryce sent it to this nobody in California.

Sitting in the parking lot of the Buy More the mission was straight forward and clear. We were to capture the recipient of the Intersect, Charles Bartowski, then question him to see what he knew and who he was working for.

It didn’t take long for the mission to become an operation after Bartowski prevented that bombing.

In the beginning Chuck appeared to be a weak, moronic, idiot and I had no idea why Bryce would trust him with something as important as the Intersect. Then I got to know the kid and discovered that he was trust worthy, loyal, naïve, and not afraid to show his emotions. When it came down to it, he had guts to do what he had to as well.

Given time I learned to rely on our unorthodox group and Walker turned out to be the best partner I ever worked with.

Then Bryce turned up again.

As I stared at him in that box I was secretly relieved that he was alive and I would have the chance to test my theory. He was taken to a medical facility and restrained until it could be cleared up what he had been doing. It came as no surprise that he only talked to Chuck and promptly escaped, considering what I knew about him.

Shooting him at my apartment was a warning that I wasn’t happy with him. He was a rogue agent on the loose, a lot of people wanted him dead, he had hidden his identity from me, and I thought I had killed him last time, also, I knew he would be wearing a vest so it would only be painful.

I finally got some answers as to why Bryce stole the Intersect and pretended to be rogue when he and Chuck explained about Operation Sandwall and the undercover assignment.

During the evening, when Sarah was distracted by Chuck for a moment, I signaled Bryce a coded message (Ryder style) for a private meeting to discuss the rest. His eyes opened wide and his mouth dropped open a little with surprise, but he nodded in agreement. For the others we kept up our animosity for cover so no one would realize our family connection until we wanted them too.

Eventually, we got that meeting and we had a lot to discuss. We spent several hours going over the details of our lives, discussed our last meeting of sorts, came up with plans for handling things in the future, and the operations that we were involved in. I was also informed of the big reason why Bryce sent the Intersect to Chuck. The Bartowski family is headed by my older brother Steven Ryder which makes them family.

This was when Operation Bartowski became a part of Operation Dominoes. We were to keep an eye on the Intersect, continue to keep others from getting the technology, and I was tasked to keep my eye open for anything related to the Antagonist.

It came time for Bryce to leave on another mission, but we had a technique in place to keep in secret contact. He also put me in touch with the rest of the families he had contacts for so I could learn where everyone else was to avoid accidentally killing anyone again.

In Castle missions continued, Chuck improved as a team member, Sarah and I got a comfortable working routine established, and I got a secret system set up to work with the families against the Antagonist.

Work at the Buy More was as dull as ever. Big Mike’s inattention made it easy to slip off to Castle for breaks when the temptation to start target shooting the idiots got to be too much to resist. As for my other cover coworkers, Morgan’s loyalty to Chuck gave him some credit towards being tolerable otherwise the bearded gnome remained a complete moron, most of the under achievers did as little as possible for the day and then went home, and I won’t even begin to describe the creepiness that permeates the air around Jeff and Lester.

At home there was my bonsai to trim, guns to clean, Reagan’s picture to polish, the history channel to watch, and monitoring my nephew with a peripheral on his sister and her boyfriend. I was often invited over to the Bartowski’s as a friend of the family, but it gave me the opportunity to get to know them without them realizing that I was taking personal interest in their lives. Chuck expected me to be notating everything in my head as a spy, but my being their uncle was completely alien to his thoughts.

When we caught up to Orion I finally knew where all three of my brothers were.

As Steven was being drug away by Roark we exchanged a subtle nod of agreement that I would protect Chuck and do my best to rectify the situation of his captivity.

After Steven’s rescue we combined resources and interlinked everything from the families, to our contacts, and our operations. This completed the information I needed because with Chuck no longer being the Intersect I was going to be getting a new assignment, and there was no telling what the nature of the work would be.

Later, our rescue efforts came too late and Bryce died the second time. This time, I was made aware of his resuscitation via our secret communication. Bryce went back to his work on Operation Dominoes and for me, nothing seemed to change, on the surface I didn’t like him anyway and below the surface I knew that he was alive.

Orion’s returned to his own efforts to keep the Intersect safe from multiple enemies with a multi continental wild goose chase. Chuck uploaded the 2.0 and followed the process to being an agent in his own right, which caused a strain in his relationship with Sarah. It took a while but the team got a new normal, and we continued to do what we do best.

Over the years we had some battles, but we prevailed. We took down Fulcrum, the Ring, Volkoff Industries, and many smaller criminal endeavors. Eventually, Ellie, Awesome, and several others discovered our secret involvement with the government and Morgan earned a spot on the team. Then my secret was partially uncovered. Kathleen came into the picture which led to me eventually telling her and Alex the truth as well.

The team continued to work and our personal circle continued to grow stronger. Soon enough it came time for the rest of the secrets I carried to come out.

*******

_Ding_. An alert goes off on my computer. It appears that my family is having a conversation online and I just got invited to be included. Pulling up the site, I see the topic is how to tell Chuck the truth and getting him to put on the glasses that have been put together to remove the Antagonist’s Intersect in his head.

This is going to be an interesting trick. He thinks that everyone else may have secret past, but once upon a time he had a normal life (as normal as growing up with two spy parents can be) and he knows where he comes from. The near future is going to change all of that. I hope he doesn’t scream like a girl and over react…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is mentioned again in the last chapter, but I would like to give readers a heads up. I am planning on writing a prompt based chapter later where I would like to answer any questions that haven't been answered in the course of the story and excerpts. If there is anything you have questions on or things that I have missed, please let me know so that I can ensure the whole story is told and get your question/s included in that chapter. Also, if you would like to see a particular character ask the question (ex. Mozzie could ask "...?") and I will ensure that the appropriate character answers. :D (Please, keep your questions clean though :)
> 
> Also, my profile has an updated list of the growing number of stories that I have written and ready to post. I plan on continuing to post a chapter every Sunday steadily as long as my completed material lasts.
> 
> Thank You for reading :D


	7. Chapter Six: Ellie Reminisces

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ellie tells how the Bartowskis came to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: This is a chapter that contains the mention of child harm. It is not overly detailed, just enough to get the idea of what transpired.

*******

As I sit watching Clara sleep, I remember how lucky I am. My beautiful little girl is sleeping peacefully beneath my watchful gaze, in the next room my awesome husband is recuperating from a long shift, and the rest of my family are out doing what they do. Thinking about them. I remember back to the days before we split up, nearly losing my brother, getting a new life, discovering my families' careers, and most importantly the day, when my brother regained himself.

*******

Going back to my childhood I was born Eleanor Faye Ryder. My parents, Steven and Mary, were a computer engineer and a traveling business woman. We lived in New York within traveling distance to the city.

Our family dominantly remained in New York for generations so events had always been big, noisy, and frequent. At these times there was always some favorite cousin or relative to gravitate to for the duration of whatever activities were planned. Chuck always went to our cousin Alexander Bryce, or Bryce, and I always stayed with our cousin Elizabeth Brennan, or El. These cousins were our best friends, and we were inseparable given the opportunity. However, at one such family event, that all changed.

It was a typically beautiful summer's day and the Ryder family was having a get together in the local park. After eating, the adults formed a perimeter of sorts and we kids were given free range to play within. I settled beneath the slides to play with my dolls while Chuck disappeared with the other boys to play hide and seek.

Everything was going fine until popping sounds broke through our general noise. Suddenly, the adults were on alert and I was ordered to lay on the ground behind the slide base. Once the chaos subsided, I was okay, but others weren't.

My uncle Casey was unconscious and his attackers had gotten past the perimeter. The boys were playing hide and seek when everything happened and Peter was on turn as seeker so he continued looking for the others. Joseph, Joe, was found first and joined in the search. They were the unfortunate ones to find the quads and frantically drew Aunt Beth, a doctor, to the scene. The attackers had gone after the quads using a method of lining them up and shooting the boy in front with the intention of shooting the next one after he fell, like a target shooting game. Instead, Nick fell back, causing the other boys to be piled behind him, while he took all of the shots. If his heart was in the normal location he would have been dead, but as it was he did die temporarily. Aunt Beth, his mom, resuscitated him while waiting for the ambulance. When the medics arrived he was whisked away to the hospital with his mom in tow.

Meanwhile the search for Chuck had turned up empty. Mom found where he had been, but there were signs of a struggle. He had been taken!

Everyone teamed up to handle the various situations. Peter and Uncle Nicholas took the boys to the hospital to be as close to Nick as possible. Uncle Casey regained consciousness, but came with my grandparents and me for the evening. The rest organized a search and rescue to get Chuck back.

My grandparents spent the night on the phone keeping track of what was going on and using contacts to help out where they could. Uncle Casey and I had pizza while we watch my favorite cartoons until after bed time. I fell asleep curled up next to him on the couch, which is why I felt it when he moved, picked me up, carried me to a guest room, and tucked me in for the night.

I woke up later in the night to the sound of noises coming from the kitchen. After slipping out of bed I crept to the door and pressed my ear against it. Upon hearing my parents worried voices I snuck down the hall to see what was going on. Listening to the conversation all I could understand was that something was wrong with my brother.

"What's wrong with Chuck?"

At my question, all heads turned to me. My mom told me that he was okay, but he had been scared and might react differently than I was used to. When I asked where he was, mom took me over to the couch. He was sound asleep and a little restless. Since I didn't want to leave him and he calmed with my presence, mom let me sleep on the couch as well. Lulled by my family's quiet conversations I quickly fell asleep.

The next morning it didn't take long for me to notice that Chuck was staying closer to me than usual, he was also quiet and a little skittish. I remembered mom telling me he was scared so I let him tag along with me throughout the day.

At dinner that night my parents announced that they had new job opportunities and we were moving. Although no one ever said it, I had an instinctual feeling that it had something to do with what happened to Chuck. Before he was taken he played like any other three year old, he climbed as high as he could (which often got him into trouble), and he played with a toy medical kit Aunt Beth had gotten for him to teach him how to be a doctor like her. Then, after the abduction, he wouldn't climb, didn't go anywhere near the kit, and suddenly preferred his rainy day indoor games to his rambunctious outdoor play of before. Suddenly, everything that followed was okay.

We packed up everything, said our tearful goodbyes, and left. For a year we bounced around changing names and distancing ourselves from the past. I missed my family, especially El, but if it meant that Chuck wouldn't have to go through something so scary again, then it was worth it.

Our new home was in Burbank California. We kept our first and middle names as links to our past, but we got a new last name, Bartowski. Life settle in and soon enough we had a new normal.

Mom and dad still did their work, I went to school and helped around the house, and Chuck picked up more video games and befriended Morgan. The little guy didn't take long to creep me out so I wanted him far away from me, but he did help my brother so he was tolerated in my vicinity.

When we were older mom went on a three day business trip and never came home. Chuck and I banded together and came up with Mother's Day on the day mom left to celebrate the day we were forced to learned to take care of ourselves. Then, a few more years went by and dad went out to get the ingredients for pancakes to make dinner, only to disappear as well. Dad sent us communications, occasionally, to see that we were still doing okay, but by this time I was in college and Chuck was finishing high school so we were of age to handle our independence.

Chuck and I did okay on our own. I went to college, worked, and took care of Chuck until he went off to Stanford. While he was in college I moved on to medical school and met Devon Woodcomb. After getting to know each other Chuck dubbed Devon with the nickname Captain Awesome because "Everything he does is awesome." We made up our own little family and things were fine, until Bryce.

It's funny how when we were kids Chuck had a close friendship with our cousin Bryce, and then after all of those years he had his friend Bryce who betrayed him. I supposed it's a good thing that he doesn't seem to remember anything of who we were or what happened.

When Chuck came home it was up to Morgan and me to help him overcome another big setback in his life. Still, he seemed to settle for the life of the under-achiever and began working with Morgan at the Buy More as a stock boy. I gave him his time and space, just like every other time.

Four years past with no glimmer of change before Sarah Walker came into our lives, and suddenly things started changing quickly. Chuck was never around (to the point I actually bonded with his creepy little friend Morgan), there was that guy John Casey who vaguely reminded me of my Uncle Casey, Chuck had his first girlfriend since Jill, and Devon and I advanced our relationship.

Our family grew to include Sarah, John, and even Morgan became a welcome sight around the apartment. When Devon and I married Chuck found our dad to walk me down the aisle, and when Clara was born he brought mom home to help with the biggest change of my life. Initially, I thought this was luck or a product of pure determination that he could find them after so long, but, in the midst of it all I discovered the truth. My parents actually worked for the CIA, Bryce had saved my brother from the CIA back in college, and then my brother was brought into the agency to work with Agents Walker and Casey for a special operation. Later, the Intersect became a family secret which led to the discovery of just how much of a family project it was.

*******

The family get together was a result of my realization that we hadn't just sat back all in one location and had an evening to relax in each other's company in quite a while. I made a few calls and did some planning to get the others on board. Then we had an evening with mom, Chuck, Sarah, Casey, Alex, Morgan, Devon, and myself chatting around the living room and playing with little Clara. That's when the rest of the truth came out.

Nothing seemed unusual until John gave me a photo album. Opening it up, I fought back tears at the first picture. It was Chuck and I with all of our Ryder cousins in the park the last day we were together. Unable to speak, my expression relayed my question to John. For answer, he turned the page and pointed to a picture of my Uncle Casey. An instant later my mind had connected the pieces and I was up, throwing my arms around his neck, and crying my heart out. Except for mom, everyone else looked at us in confusion before directing their attention to the pictures to see what answers they could find.

As I calmed down Casey, mom, and I put our attention to the silent Chuck. He had continued to turn through the pages until he found a picture that had a black van approaching. His face paled, his hands shook, and his eyes had a big, distant, and yet terrified, look. It was obvious that he remembered after all, and everything he had buried deep in the back of his mind had just rushed to the front as emblazoned on his mind as ever.

Sarah and Morgan had settled themselves on either side of him and were desperately trying to break through his terror. As they struggled with Chuck, Devon and Alex were mystified how a few pictures could stir up such a chaos of emotions.

Uncle Casey decided it was time to snap Chuck out of his reverie, so with a commanding bark he shouted a safe phrase in code at him. Finally, Chuck was aware of his surroundings again but the worry hadn't left his eyes yet. To help him relax, mom and I chimed in with our safe codes as well. Combining that with Morgan telling him that whatever had happened in the past he was here safely surrounded by people who could fight off anything, and Sarah wrapping him in a comforting hug, Chuck calmed down the rest of the way.

Mom, Casey, and I recounted what had transpired that day at the park, the resulting changes, and other general histories that filled in the blanks. When we finished, Devon wrapped his arms around me while telling me that he was lucky to be married to such an awesome woman, Alex sat quietly processing this new information, Morgan was obviously excited that his relationship with Alex could officially make him family someday, and Sarah gave Chuck another hug before asking him if there was anything he wanted to talk about.

"Not really, but it's probably time I talked about what happened."

*******

Devon's voice startles me as he asks me "What's wrong babe?"

I shake my head nothing, and say "I was just missing the rest of my family, I haven't seen them since I was a kid."

"Soon, babe, soon." Is his response as he walks a crossed the room so sit with me. We watch our baby sleep and in my heart I know he's right. Almost my entire family is out there fighting to finish the battle and bring everyone together after so long a part.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I now have the cover art for this story up on this site. It is located at the top of the Prologue and the description of where it comes from is described in the introduction part of Chapter Four.


	8. Chapter Seven: Combining the Stories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blending Chuck and White Collar aspects of the story.

**Chapter Seven**

**Combining the Stories**

***********

I am sitting on the roof top balcony sipping my morning ambrosia in the clouds. As I watch, the sunrise is reflecting off of the buildings surrounding June's and reflecting its colorful light all around me. The beauty of the night melting away and the morning breaking over the horizon is a sight that I have always enjoyed. When possible, I enjoy being on the water this time of day to combine my love of the sunrise with my love of water, but as I am needed to be here playing Caffrey, I have to make do with good coffee and a lovely sunrise.

While I move onto my breakfast the early morning fog is melting away and the noise escalates as it disappears. The change of the morning reminds me of how Operation Caffrey moved from a small operation with Nate working to bust a few of Bennett's old cohorts to a multiplayer role with an international enemy in the Antagonist as well as other smaller opponents like Adler.

*******

After the work with the FBI began, the first big problem for Caffrey was the death of Kate, which was faked of course. We had gotten to Fowler first and set him up with a deal. He helped to fake Kate's death, and we gave him a deal for his crimes. For Kate, she disappeared from the field work side of the operations and settled in behind a desk. This wasn't her favorite place to be, but as she and Nate would be having Benjamin Joe within the year, it was a safe place for her.

When Adler came into play again, things got nasty. While Caffrey was chasing Adler for Kate's death, the rest of us were going after him for his past crimes and possible links to the Antagonist. We started to get close, but we spooked him. Sadly, Mozzie paid the price and was shot by Julian Larssen, which was a warning to back off on all fronts. As expected, we didn't listen and only put more people and effort into protecting our players. There were a few more sticky situations but with the help of the White Collar team, and a single shot from Peter, the whole case was finished. With the death of Adler all agencies descended and the frenzy quickly had all cases reliant upon him closed.

To follow up with the Adler issue, Mozzie just had to go and steal the treasure, which eventually brought Matthew Keller back. This caused El and Peter to be put in danger and brought a lot of strain to Caffrey's relationships in the office. We could have done without the extra trouble this caused on all levels, but we managed to overcome. Keller was taken down, the treasure returned to the people it had originally belonged to, and the relationships within the office remained shaky but everyone was pulled through safely.

Due to the shaky relationships and the suspicions that Caffrey had been responsible for the treasure theft, Peter brought in his old mentor. Agent Kramer was definitely involved with the Antagonist and had no good intentions for Caffrey from the start. From his perspective, Caffrey was the fake replacement paid off to be a decoy for the real forger who had gained a position working for the Antagonist. He believed that if he could get him away from the influence of Peter, and paid him off well enough, he would be willing to be a stooge. Caffrey would be pulling off crimes for the Antagonist in the shadows while being Kramer's Consultant in the open and taking his closure rates to a whole new level. This was too good of a deal for Kramer to pass up, so he fought hard and dirty. In the end he had done so well that we couldn't get past him.

Rather than send Caffrey to be a virtual slave in DC, Peter gave the permission and heads up for Caffrey to run. We took Caffrey for a nice little tour of the islands with Mozzie and they set up shop on one of the Cape Verde islands. In Mozzie's mind, they were cashing in on retirement, but for Caffrey it was a working vacation. Their location was a main information hub for the Antagonist as well as the secret hide out of Rob MacLeash. When Peter came into the picture we had to move up the time table on the Antagonist research, and used MacLeash's take down as a means of bringing Caffrey back. The trip proved extra helpful though, as the research Caffrey uncovered brought up the existence of a leader at the top of the ten divisions of the Antagonist. We had discovered the spider in the web.

With Caffrey's return to New York, Ellen came out to help advance the case against Bennett as he was the last non Antagonist opponent on the target list. She had given up her career, the life she knew, and was willing to give up her life to take down the man who betrayed her and the men behind him who gave the law she upheld a bad name. After several years, she kept her promise and gave us the evidence to prove Bennett was dirty.

Of course it couldn't be a direct "Here you go," but instead turned out to be a treasure hunt. It was fun to solve, and the race against Peter was just icing on the cake! The closer we got, the more danger there was and before we reached the end Ellen was killed and Peter took a hit of a different variety.

Senator Pratt combined with Bennett turned out to be mixing fire and gasoline. There was the accident and then the almost cincher to Peter's career when Bennett made him the fall man for Pratt's murder, a crime which Bennett had committed. We had been using Operation Recovery to keep Peter and the others safe, but now we had a new front to defend him from, the justice system its self. While Peter was doing his stint in orange, or in jail to be less color oriented, Caffrey and the FBI pulled a man hunt for Bennett.

They were completely unsuccessful. Why? We had arrested Bennett as soon as he was away from June's and out of sight.

The surface story was that Bennett called in to clear Peter's name, only to be later discovered that Caffrey and Mozzie faked the recording. Really, we had cameras that recorded the incident and with the evidence stacked against him Bennett confessed, it was recorded, and Caffrey pretended to create the recoding that was heard at Peter's indictment hearing. Peter was released and things seemed to pick up back to normal.

It didn't take long for Peter to get suspicious of Caffrey again, with good reason too. Behind the scenes, Caffrey had made a deal with Hagen and was doing assorted crimes with Mozzie to get the blackmailer off of his back. These crimes were meant to help the Antagonist as they had people pulling the strings from out of sight. They thought they had finally gotten their stooge and Caffrey was just another of many criminals under their thumb. Well, the jokes on them because we were using their jobs to get the upper hand and eventually used it to find the last keys to their eventual demise.

As more crimes were committed, the distrust grew stronger, and eventually some of the truth leaked out. Peter took measures into his own hands to rectify the problems that Caffrey had caused and emotionally distanced himself from the man who had become his best friend. This was a good thing, because as nasty as things had gotten in the past, things were about to get a whole lot worse.

With Caffrey's abduction we put Casey into the FBI office to "Aid in the international search" for Caffrey. After all, when your chasing spies, why not have the help of spies? Actually, he was just the temporary replacement for Caffrey tasked to keep everyone safe until we could get our usual man back.

It was rather interesting to see the meeting between Peter and Casey. On Casey's part he put up a show of mentally belittling the FBI because it was expected of him, and it fit his general opinion of other agents anyway. Peter, he was distrusting of this agent who, in his mind, had no reason to care for his friend's personal wellbeing and was likely more concerned with catching the culprits than anything else. In addition, there was the clash of wills, each was used to being in charge, having their orders followed without question, and each had different means of getting to the same end.

As Casey got himself integrated into the office he further set himself at odds with the other agents by using Caffrey's desk. This ruffled some feathers but, in the interest of finding Caffrey as soon as possible, it only brought up dirty looks, not subtle reminders of who the desk belonged too, and an open dislike for his very presence. It annoyed the agents even further when his general responses were short sentences or his famous grunts. Needless to say, things didn't get off to a very good start, but for Casey to protect them it was beneficial that he be by the door and Caffrey's desk provided the best means.

Peter started the search by looking in the case files. Being Caffrey's handle it was his responsibility to look into his old enemies, the cases they had worked together, and the usual start points that have to be looked into in the event of a disappearance.

The rest of the search consisted of pulling up Neal's tracking data for the last several days, tracking camera feeds where possible, and analyzing anyone who appeared to be suspicious. Casey took lead on this assignment and personally focused on watching the feed and analyzing any suspects. He was intense in his research and seemed rather nosy as he was always watching who came in the door, what they were carrying, and what they did while they were in the office, a puzzling mix to the agents watching him.

Casey found a clue when he got to the footage of Caffrey leaving the hospital after visiting Mozzie. There was a man leaning against the wall reading a newspaper. What raised a suspicion is how he hadn't turned the page in twenty minutes, followed by how he watched Caffrey leaving. Combining his face and his distinctive grey cowboy boots it was fairly simple to use the cities cameras to track him. He was following Caffrey's every move which made him the prime suspect.

FBI facial recognition didn't have the suspect in the database so the picture was ran through every database connected to the Operations Dominoes and Recovery. No luck, the last resort was to bring Chuck in with the Intersect. Casey took a snap shot of the image and texted it to Chuck. Since the entire office saw this there was an uproar of questions. Peter quieted the agents and asked the question himself.

"What did you do that for?"

"I work with the team that guards the nation's largest database. My team mate will run the picture against the database and see if he tags something."

It worked, within five minutes Casey's phone went off alerting him to Chuck's answer. The mystery man was a part of работорговцев, or the Antagonist's project that was involved with human trafficking. This group was used to move people from place to place and they could make Caffrey disappear to any location in the world. Obviously a problem. Luckily, Chuck also had information as to where Caffrey would have been taken. There was a base hidden in South America, in the middle of the Amazon jungle. Caffrey was in a tight spot and his rescue was going to be rather difficult. It turned out not to be necessary though.

While everyone was scrambling to plan an international rescue, Caffrey showed up. Not in a good way of course. Peter received a message with coordinates to a warehouse location on the edge of the city. Upon arriving the teams discovered that there were traps laid everywhere to add to the challenge of finding what the building contained. Casey led the way clearing traps and the teams eventually made it into the main area. In the middle of the room there was a tarp with the expected message pinned on top. The warning was that if the diamond wasn't handed over to the person who would be contacting Peter within the next twelve hours, Peter would be next. With trepidation, Casey and Peter unwrapped the tarp and the straps, like a present, to find Caffrey. He had been tortured and was a bloody mess.

After the ambulance had carried Caffrey to the hospital, with Peter at his side, Casey and the remaining agents covered every inch of the warehouse looking for clues. It was spotless. Leaving the rest to continue follow ups and look into how to handle the diamond situation, Casey switched to getting Chuck on hand immediately. It was time to bring the Intersect in before things went downhill any farther.

*******

"'In nature, everything has a job. The job of the fog is to beautify further the existing beauties!' Mehmet Murat Ildan."

"Morning Mozz, care to join me?"

"Who would pass up the pleasures of a beautiful morning with a great coffee and a close friend to enjoy it with?"

As he sits down and pours himself a cup of the coffee I have been leisurely working my way through, I speculate as to what has put him into such a good mood. He notices my studying him but remains aloof, simply watching the fog disperse and the sun's rays growing brighter and warmer as the morning progresses. Eventually he decides to break the silence and begins to tell his tale.

Recently, he received a message from Mr. Jeffries. There have been people poking around and asking him about Mozzie. They have a story about a baby boy, of Mozzie's description, going missing a long time ago. New evidence had surfaced in the last few years allowing the trail to finally be connected from DC to Detroit, and the trail had gone cold again in the area. The theory was that the abductors had decided to abandon the baby and maybe he was left at the orphanage. Nothing was confirmed yet, but for Mozzie the idea that he wasn't abandoned was new. He now had hope that his parents were out there looking for him, and had been all along only to be stymied by his abductors skills of disappearing.

I congratulated him and hoped that things would come together for him, it was obvious that despite his many statements to the contrary, Mozzie wanted to meet his family and have a connection. After discussing some theories of our own we sat back and simply enjoyed listening to the rest of the city progressing through their weekend, each lost in our own thoughts and hopes for the future of Mozzie's identity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to the two guest who have put Kudos and to Fiona12690 for following my story, I am glad that you like it :D


	9. Chapter Eight: Finding The Keys

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finding the keys to taking down the Antagonist.

*******

Working at the Buy More has become even duller than it was before I joined the CIA. After all, how does customer service compare to saving the world? Still, sitting behind the Nerd Herd desk with nothing to do is a nice time to reflect on all that has changed in my life recently.

*******

Ellie had organized a get together with our little piece of the family. It was going as expected until Uncle Casey gave Ellie a photo album full of pictures of the last day we spent with our family. This dredged up memories I had managed to push so far back into my mind that they had long since been forgotten.

After the conversation turned to me it became my turn to delve into the past and reveal a piece of my history no one had been able to get me to talk about, but now it was time.

I had been playing hide and seek in the park with my cousins. Being little more than a toddler, while Peter was a teenager, it was never too hard for him to find me. In that last round I had discovered a grouping of large decorative grass clumps that provided ample coverage for me to hide in. I heard someone walk past my spot and, assuming that it was Peter, I giggled, happy to have not been found so easily as the past rounds. To my horror it wasn’t Peter who parted the grass looking into my hiding spot, but a big stranger. I tried to get away from the goon but a second one caught me from behind. They held a cloth over my face and I passed out before I could scream or put up any more of a struggle. The last thing I saw before my vision went dark was a black van followed by a bag as I was shoved into it.

When I regained consciousness I was locked in a dimly lit room. A dirty window up by the ceiling allowed the light in, but the room was cement like a basement and I couldn’t open the door, I had no escape route. Soon, one of the goons came into the room while the second blocked the door to prevent me escaping. I was quickly caught and hauled to another room where they chained me to a chair. They threatened to finish off one of my cousins and start on my sister if I didn’t stop struggling. Terrified, not knowing who may have been hurt and not wanting any more harm to come to them, I froze and refrained from any further fighting. The boss came in and made me watch a bunch of pictures on a screen, something I later learned to recognize as an Intersect. After they finished I was too tired for them to do anything else with me. Alone again in the first room, I succumbed to my exhaustion curled up in the corner.

Shaking and voices woke me up later. I looked up into the worried, yet relieved, expressions of my parents with more family and friends around in the background. We went to another strange place and my dad ran some tests on the effects that the treatment had had on me. It was discovered that I feared the heights I used to love, and the needles that would be a part of the medical training I had shown an interest in terrified me. I felt fear where I used to feel caution and this was all too much for me so I sought comfort in the presence of my family, retreated into games, and pushed everything to the back of my mind.

When we moved I went along with whatever my parents wanted. We bounced from home to home, changed our names, and eventually settled in California. At that point, I remembered being a Ryder and being around such a big family. As the years past, I was young enough, that the memories faded and I forgot what had happened and who my family had been.

As I finished recounting my story the room was quiet. Sarah, Alex, Ellie, and mom were quietly crying in their own ways. Morgan was the one to break the silence by voicing the obvious question.

“So…what about the bad guy Intersect from this Antagonist?”

Casey grunted and moving a crossed the room pulled out a box from his jacket by the door. Coming back, he gave it to me and I opened it to find glasses just like those that had contained the Intersect in the past. He explained that he knew, since finding Bryce alive, that we were family and when my dad came into the picture they teamed up to make sure we were as safe as possible. The last time Casey had seen my father, my father had given him the box to give me at the right time as well as a drive to give me to investigate the Antagonist Intersect when I was ready.

I put on the glasses and with the quoted phrase “Aces, Charles. Aces.” my body went rigid and I could feel the effects of the Antagonist’s Intersect being pulled from my brain. After the Intersect was removed, I went with a hunch and said “Charles Carmichael” only to get my father’s improved Intersect downloaded into my brain. When that download was finished, Casey and mom filled us in on where the families were now, what was going on in the fight against the Antagonist, the details into Operations Dominoes and Recovery, and what we could do to help.

-*-

A phone call to Beckman had Team Bartowski official again, for the duration of these operations at least, and the first assignments started the next day.

The first part of our returning to work included being inundated with all of the information on the Antagonist and all operations combating them. Being the Intersect it fell to me to have the unique method of analyzing the information. My first step was to analyze the Intersect that my dad had removed from my head and look for a system to its function. Once I found how that Intersect worked I had a direction to look into to see how the later Intersect methods had been designed. Next, I took all of the information and put it into an Intersect and uploaded it into my brain with the rest of it. Then, I went to work going through the information by hand and let the computer in my brain work with my mental reasoning to look for the key to the communication network’s method of encoding the information into the Intersect. Finally, after a lot of hard work and many sleepless nights I noticed a numerical pattern. I quickly wrote down as much of the sequence as I could find and looking at it I felt the flash coming on. In seconds my mind had broken apart every Intersected piece of information in the entire system. Of course this was way too much and left me unconscious on the floor.

When the rest of the team found me they panicked, revived me, and had a long stream of questions starting with if I was okay and moving onto “what did you find?” I decided it was easiest to show them while I explained and within a short time I had a program ready. After uploading all of the Intersected images I put in the numerical sequence as the key to breaking them back into encrypted messages. We watched as the program broke down one entire piece of the Antagonist’s communication network. The first key had been found and was quickly circulated through all divisions.

-*-

Casey was called to New York with Caffrey’s disappearance and most of the team switched to helping with the search. Meanwhile, I multitasked looking through the information for anything to help find Caffrey, and hoping to find the key to the encryption method. Within a few days Casey texted me a snapshot of a picture. When I looked at the image a flash hit and I relayed the result back to Casey over the phone. As the others helped work through the challenges of planning an international rescue, I continued looking through the information for anything that could be of help. A few more days past and Casey called me in to actively help in New York as well. Caffrey had been dumped in a warehouse and I was to help keep things from getting any worse.

My first stop was to see Caffrey. He looked horrible lying there unconscious, just waiting until he had recovered enough to wake up. His personal doctor had been called in and reassured everyone that he would be as good as new, it was just going to take time for him to recover.

Riding the elevator on my way up to the twenty first floor, where the White Collar team was based, I couldn’t help but feel nervous. Here I was heading into an office I had never been in, to work with a bunch of agents who I had never met and who would automatically distrust me, and to be in the presence of my cousin whom I hadn’t seen since we were kids playing hide and seek in the park. Peter would have no memory of me, but I would know exactly who he was. I couldn’t help but wonder if that was what the Caffrey’s felt each time they were around Peter?

When I walked into the office everyone stopped and looked at me. I was unexpected, dressed as a civilian in the same clothes I had been researching in, and I had my luggage in tow. Luckily, Casey was working the first desk by the door and had me integrated into the office in no time. His introduction that I was his associate who had found the information to Caffrey’s abductor and that I was now here to help in person, had the room happier to see me. My suitcase was left by his desk and my computer was quickly set up in the conference room. Peter settled in to work with me for a while as he filled me in on everything he had concerning the cases Caffrey had been involved with. The information had already been sent to me and was in the Intersect, but it still helped to get it directly from the source.

Peter was surprised when after only a few hours of working I got a distant look on my face and rushed to Casey’s desk with Peter following right behind me. Again, the entire office stopped to watch me as I started laying information out a crossed the desk and babbling at ninety miles an hour. A dirty look from Casey had me taking a breath and starting over. With my audience all ears, I told them about our “Cowboy Boots” who was actually Clint Dawson. Rebecca had become associated with him when he hired her to “take care” of a person or two. On those jobs, secret cameras gathered evidence against her which was used to set her up as another stooge for the Antagonist to manipulate. Following through the information on Dawson I discovered a break that we could use to our advantage. His favorite man to fetch items for him was from the smuggling project and listed as CB with a reputation for getting the job done. The FBI agents were rather pale at how much was stacked against us, and therefore confused by Casey’s and my conspiratorial expressions.

Before we could explain, Peter’s phone rang making him go even paler. He put the call on speaker and Casey rolled his eyes while I smiled at the voice and the message it relayed. The instructions were to go to central park, Peter was to be seated on a bench with a particular magazine and specific book, the diamond was to be hidden inside of the cut out pages in the book, a random stranger would pick up the book and leave with it, and Peter’s part would be complete.

When the call finished, I quickly started relaying orders for Peter to get Mozzie to make a fake diamond that would be passable for the diamond retrieved form the fort. I would be in the park as an innocent bystander, when asked I would pick up the book take it to CB, and the rest was already taken care of.

Peter reacted with angry contempt. How could a plan like that possibly work, how did I know so much so quickly, and all I was going to do was get people killed. The entire office was glaring at me as well and it was obvious that cooperation on this was not going to be easy. Behind me Casey growled at them and all glares turned to him.

“Because we have people on the inside to make sure this will work, what Chuck does is classified way above your pay grades, and avoiding people getting killed is the reason we are here. So how about we work together and get this taken care of so that we can all get back to our lives.”

With grumbles and distrusting glances the room began to disperse. I followed Peter up to the conference room where he glared at me as I got settle in to send a coded message to Cole. Looking at Peter, I told him that Casey was my uncle and that our family has been fighting this battle for four generations. Also, contrary to his beliefs, we both would do everything we could to keep Caffrey, the other agents, and him as safe as we could. He was uncertain of the truth of my statement, but chose to be optimistic and believe as he needed something to make things look better than they did.

The next morning the drop off went perfectly. Peter followed the instructions by sitting on the bench with his reading material, as expected Cole called me as the “random stranger” to pick up the book, I delivered it to him by leaving it at another random location, and we all parted ways exactly as would be expected of the situation.

Once everyone was back at the offices the case was done for the moment and the FBI returned to their normal paperwork. Casey and I were given orders to stay put for the time being so I called home and let the others know that I was going to be staying longer than initially planned.

-*-

Returning to the hotel where Casey and I would be staying for the duration of our visit I set up a work station at the table. It was difficult to go through Caffrey’s belongings but I forced myself to go through everything and see if I flashed. Towards the end I found a necklace hidden in the back corner of the bag that gotten caught on the plastic and hidden amongst the mess. Pulling it out I decided to rinse it off to see what was on it. The flash hit me like a train and once again I ended up unconscious on the floor.

Casey found me when he had switched off with another member of the family to keep an eye on Caffrey. I showed him what I had found and he checked it out while I tended my head ache. After searching the necklace we found that it had a faint inscription in Greek that read κλειδίπου ξεκλειδώνειτο μυστήριο (the key that unlocks the mystery). The last key had been found, every project had been infiltrated, and we only had the spider who led the entire organization left to nail down. We were finally getting close.

After reporting our findings it was time for sleep, the rest could wait until tomorrow.

*******

Getting my attention, Casey is giving the signal that we are wanted so it is time to sneak away to Castle and see what kind of adventurous mission we have next.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to thank those who have bookmarked, commented, left Kudos, and those lurkers who continue to read without comment :D 
> 
> I'm glad that you are all enjoying the story and hope to hear from you as we start the downward turn. This particular story is over halfway done with the climax fast approaching and some interesting reveals to follow (there are some even better parts in the excerpts and prompts to come later) ;)
> 
>  
> 
> If there are any questions or missing scenes that you would like filled in, please let me know :D


	10. Chapter Nine: Mysteries and Suspicions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mozzie shares what he has observed...

*******

I can't believe things have gone this far. With all of the mystery surrounding my friend, it has reached a point that has forced me to converse with the man, to use the resources of big brother to discover the secrets my friend is loath to reveal. Usually, I would simply show my displeasure and try to convince him to share with me, but this talk of him getting hurt as a child and mysterious associations with these CIA and NSA spook suits has me feeling the need to use alternative measures.

This is what brings me to where I am. The bench I chose for my clandestine meeting has easy access to escape routes, a position to see without being seen, and ironically a view of the location where all of this started. As I wait for my collaborator, my mind is wandering over the pieces of Neal's and my history trying to understand what is happening lately.

*******

I have worked with Caffrey for a long time. When we first met he was successful at conning a con (me) which is a difficult feat to accomplish. Starting a working relationship we targeted a local business man named Vincent Adler. Things didn't go as planned because Neal got romantically involved with Kate and Adler turned out to be a con man himself.

Left with nothing Kate, Neal, and I teamed up and continued to pull cons. Watching the two of them working together was interesting. They alternated between flirtatious and romantic to appearing like a brother and sister pretending to ward off unwanted suitors. Eventually, Neal attempted to con Kate and the relationship ended for a time.

With the world as our oyster Neal and I traveled the globe working. He occasionally left to work his own jobs, as I did also, but we mostly worked together as a team with me behind the scenes while he took lead. (What he has told me of the jobs he pulled without me were mostly untraceable because they were never reported). Over time our jobs got bigger, and as the pay increased so did the risks. Returning to New York we had an international reputation, we each had our own secret cache of valuables, and Kate came into the picture again changing our story.

Following the word of an unreliable street source Neal found Kate, but walked right into an FBI trap. Given a four year sentence Neal went to prison while Kate and I kept in touch. When the time was almost up Kate had a meeting with Neal where she broke up with him again and left. Wanting to know what was going on, Neal requested that I help him to escape and go after her.

After a few short weeks our plan worked and Neal was free again… briefly. In Kate's apartment he found the empty bottle that they used to communicate which had been left behind as a goodbye. While he was still sitting there the Suit found him and he returned to prison with another four year sentence.

On a work release for the FBI Neal was forced to remain within certain limitations. Staying one place for the first time in our acquaintance I was able to better observe my friend. What I found made him a living conspiracy. Watching him go through the same routines I noticed that he sometimes did them with a whole different personality from one day to the next. When we had conversations he would understand a topic one week and not the next. His learning curve was inhuman, he slipped acting a bit too much like a Fed, and to top it off he had unknown relations with the CIA and NSA.

For as much as I thought I knew my friend… sometimes I wasn't so sure.

When Neal was abducted, the NSA got involved with the search and then brought in his "team mate" from the CIA (I mean everyone knows the two agencies don't play nice) there was a lot of speculation as to why the spies were getting involved. Then after Neal's spook suit friends revealed a past connection to him the aura of mystery expanded to include Neal as well. It became a challenge for the rest of us to try and figure out what was going on. We visited him in the hospital, we talked to him while he was home recovering, and he was keenly observed around the office when he returned to work. No one could figure out how he recovered so quickly, or what his past history with the spooks was beyond a game of hide and seek. He was hiding things again, but this time it wasn't some painting he stole that was never reported, it was things involving the government.

I had my theories but none of them filled in all of the gaps. Maybe he was a spy, but why play a con man who consults for the FBI? What if he was an experiment being conducted on some poor kid who was lost in the system and he had some kind of mental programming that had some glitches to be worked out? That would explain some of his changes in interests and personality, but it wouldn't account for him being flawless in his work. Could he be an alien living here in secret learning about our crime and legal systems simultaneously? What good would that do for someone who had the intelligence to traverse the universe, wouldn't they be smart enough to have their own problems worked out? My speculations ran from the mundane that these were just people he knew as a kid but for safety reasons they weren't going into detail on their history to conspiracies of the most odious variety. The Suit felt that the secret history for safety was the best theory. After all, they were secret agents for the government and Neal had been in Wit sec all of his growing up years. That may have worked for Suit, but I was still aware of his little changes and inconsistencies.

It was expected that the spooks would leave once the case concerning the diamond, spies, and Neal's disappearance was closed. Instead, they stuck around and more new faces came into the picture. Ruiz had moved to Chicago for a promotion, and his replacement was a rather young agent from DC named Cade Tanner. His team was brought in to work with the White Collar team and the spooks for a new case, which was a different angle to the last case. The task was to work on catching a forger crew who worked for an organization referred to as the Antagonist. I had heard scared whispers of them on the streets so it was disconcerting that my friend and the FBI team I learned to trust were going to be in the middle of something so dangerous.

The case started out fine with the teams doing research, surveillance stakeouts, and some fringe undercover work. Then things took a turn for the worst when the lead agents started disappearing. First, it was the new guy Tanner from Organized Crime. He left the office headed for home, never made it to his car, and there wasn't a trace of evidence to follow. Twelve hours later he was found in the parking garage with no idea what had happened and a mysterious little slit on the back of his neck like something had been surgically removed. Suit was second when he disappeared from a stake out with Neal. A team of agents came to relieve the pair only to find Neal slumped unconscious in the seat with no memory past "Peter was eating a deviled ham sandwich." Another twelve hour period went by and Suit turned up sleeping in Jr Suit's car with his own mystery little cut. Finally, the disappearance that was the most disturbing was Mrs Suit. She was working late at Burke Premiere Events, since Suit had been working late as well. When Suit arrived home to find the house empty he tried to contact her, with no response the search began again. A nerve racking twelve hours later she was found at her latest event location when Yvonne went to set up. Like the other two, she had a little cut on the back of her neck and no memory what so ever. In depth investigations were opened up to see if the Antagonist had anything to do with the abductions, but nothing connected.

It seemed that there was another angle to look at the situation, so Missing Persons was brought in to help. Agent J R, or Joe as he insisted on, was the new lead agent of the department. He voluntarily spent long hours asking questions and doing research into what could possibly link the three together on another level, besides the current case. With enough information to write their biographies he started secluding himself in his office working diligently. Leaving that problem in his hands the victims took precautions and went back to work.

While everything was going on Neal seemed rather stoic. I had expected him to go ballistic when Peter and Elizabeth were taken, instead, his focus waited until they were returned before he became super protective. This included his insistence that no one talked about the little cuts or mysterious disappearances with anyone outside of the office, when questioned why not, he simply stated that he "had a funny feeling about this." On top of his strange emotional behavior. His secret meetings with the spooks grew in frequency, I noticed his computer at his apartment being open to chat sites all in a strange code, and he reacted odd around the new agents too. With the younger Tanner he was like the watchful big brother, and he often had lunch with Joe which was "just checking to see if he had any updates." Concerned I decided to do some digging of my own.

Looking into the new agent's backgrounds there was nothing odd about Tanner. Joe on the other hand had been following Tanner's career from the beginning. When Tanner moved, it was less than a week and Joe was right behind him. Having no explanation for this I moved on to the histories of the spooks. Casey had a sudden appearance in a Special Black Ops team in 1989. From there he advanced in the Marines, joined the NSA, and worked in Operations Bartowski and Dominoes. Most of his file was blacked out but I was able to get ahold of enough information to know that he was dangerous and involved in some very big secrets. Next I looked into this Chuck spook. His file was the least informative but I did get that he started as an asset, worked up to an analyst, and eventually chose to become an Agent. For some reason he was given the title Special Agent and given command of an Operation Intersect (Intersect what? Humans and Computers? Humans and Aliens?). He had been out of the agency but recently rejoined to participate in an Operation Dominoes. My research gained more information which coincided with more questions. So I changed my tactics. Finally, I switched to look a little more in depth into the Antagonist. I started by quietly spreading the word that I was curious who they were. Typically this would be no big deal, but apparently this organization wasn't typical.

At first there was this eerie feeling, like I was being watched. I began to take precautions and realized I had a tail. Ducking into an alley to change my direction and lose them, I was dismayed to find myself surrounded. The leader of the group announced that he was associated with the Antagonist and that this was their way of warning others that it was best not to snoop into other people's business. To buy myself some time to think up a possible escape, I asked "What was the warning?" He laughed, and raising his gun, he smirked "Your death." Before he could pull the trigger, the Chuck spook swung into the goons on one side of the alley, while another spook flipped off of the fire escape and landed into the ones on the other side. In mere moments they had flipped, kicked, hit, jumped, ducked, and spun into victory taking all of the bad guys down without firing off a single shot.

As I stood, briefly immobilized by the shock of how quickly and efficiently they fought, Chuck introduced the reason for them following me. Neal had been keeping tabs on me noticing my distance and concerns of late. When he heard about my looking into the Antagonist he requested I be followed and protected. Not happy with this revelation I turned my focus to see who else had been monitoring me against my wishes. To say the least what I saw came as quite a surprise. His appearance was very similar to Neal's with only the difference of the hair being slightly lighter and a little curlier, his eyes had a more aqua tint to the blue, and his face was slightly different in its shape. With a grin this new spook introduced himself as Zach and said that he was Neal's cousin, then he added "of sorts" with a shrug. Uncertain what to think, I decided it was best to verify with Neal, so with the spooks trailing in the shadows I headed for June's.

Following the usual track of late Neal didn't give me much. He simply stated that yes he had his family and friends watching me, no I wouldn't get to know details yet, yes he would tell me when he could, he ordered me to stay in a safe house allowing the spooks/suits to protect me, and he promised that after four generations of fighting this was about to be over. When I questioned him on how he knew, he told me that the organization had been infiltrated on every level. With his abduction he was inadvertently introduced to the leader and now there was nothing left to stop the bust, it was simply a matter of completing the plans and putting them into action.

*******

A loud sigh and rustling noises accompany the person sitting on the bench behind me. He has his paper open and held up as the signal. Still, I verify with the code phrase and he grudgingly responds accordingly.

The Suit isn't happy with the situation either, but as he too is concerned and sees no other recourse, he also is reduced to secret meetings and exchanges of information on our mutual and mysterious friend. Peter starts off the conversation by detailing the office situations and I follow with the situations that have been occurring off of the clock. We discuss and compare what we have seen and heard trying to find some answers. After we have shared everything we share a look of concern. Something is very wrong here, but neither of us can put a finger on it. With no answers and more questions all we can do is go our separate ways to keep trying and hope something works to clear the mystery.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those who may have been watching for me too post, I'm sorry that I almost forgot that today was Sunday and my day to post. Things have been busy and I am on a time clock due to upcoming vacation.
> 
> A heads up. I leave on vacation this week for a week and a half. This means that next Sunday's post will be up this Wednesday night instead of on Sunday, and the following Sunday's post might be a little late depending on how my return goes. I have a new phone with less glitches so internet access won't be steady, but if anyone reviews or PMs me, I'll try to get back to you as soon as possible.


	11. Chapter Ten: Recovery - Removing The Handler's Leverage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The cases begin and soon The Antagonist will be a threat no more.

Speaker: Agent Elizabeth Ryder, MD

Location: Undisclosed Safe House

Activity: Waiting, the same as I have been doing for twenty three years.

My youngest son is William Cade Ryder. He was abducted when he was three years old, put through an Intersect to forget his real identity, and a chip was placed in his neck to ensure that if any of the agents connected to our family ever got to close to threatening the Antagonist then Will would be killed via remote control. In addition to waiting for my son's safe return there is also my niece, and name sake, Elizabeth Brennan and her husband, my nephew on the other side, Ryan Peter Ryder who have also been held as leverage against us.

Each time one of these three were taken my older son Nicholas was left severely injured, near death. Then after becoming old enough to find themselves involved with various government and law enforcement agencies, all of my remaining children have been working to bring their brother and cousins home following the lead of Nicholas' driven efforts to right his perceived failures to protect. Finally, after two generations of work we were close enough to the end to bring in the handlers and remove the leverage altogether.

**********

Common points of the three cases:

Organization: антагонист (AKA: Antagonist)

Project: Детский плечо (AKA: Leverage)

Purpose: Provide Leverage by Threatening Children

Lead Operation: Recovery

Director of Operations: Nick Ryder (AKA: Shield)

Lead Agent in charge: Joseph Ryder (AKA: JR/Joe)

Agency Affiliation: FBI (Missing Persons)

**********

Case 1:

Handlers: Logan and Lauren Tanner

Report Summary:

Handler team number one comprised of Logan and Lauren Tanner. They had abducted William Cade Ryder and renamed him Cade Tanner. Cade had grown up in the DC area, was an academic scholar well ahead of his years, and was very good at soccer in school. He graduated with an advanced law degree at the age of fourteen, worked for a high profile law firm for six years, left to begin consulting in law enforcement for three years, and joined the FBI as soon as he turned twenty three. There he quickly rose through the ranks and landed the role of the head agent for Organized Crimes in New York.

Mr. and Mrs. Tanner had not been pleased to have their "little boy" go into law yet alone into law enforcement. The fear was that he might stumble into things hidden in their pasts, like their previous identities with rap sheets a mile long, or there more recent criminal endeavors. Taking advantage of the past crimes, not linked to what they did to William, an arrest was arranged while William was left safely disconnected to the take downs.

The raid was set to begin at seven hundred hours and was organized by Agent Joseph Ryder of the New York Missing Persons division while being conducted by a team based out of the Washington DC office. Everything went according to plan and the arrests went down on pocket warrants without a hitch.

*******

Case 2:

Handlers: Dr. Alan and Tina Mitchell

Report Summary:

The second team of handlers was Dr. Alan and Tina Mitchell. They had been pseudo parents to Elizabeth Anne Brennan and renamed her Elizabeth Mitchell after her past had been suppressed, replaced via an Intersect, and the control chip was placed in her neck. Elizabeth was raised to be a classic woman in downtown Boston. She grew to love pottery making, dancing, Nancy Drew mysteries, Orleander-scented candles, old jazz, and showed a particular love of Italian with the exception of anchovies. Entering the career world she chose to continue with her preference to the classical and sophisticated by entering into art. She worked for an assortment of galleries, and after one of the galleries had been robbed she met her future husband, the investigating Special Agent Peter Burke. As their relationship flourished she progressed to own Burke Premiere Events and eventually picked up consulting for the Dearmitt Gallery as well.

Dr. and Mrs. Mitchell were rather pleased with the pseudo children. Elizabeth had been abducted by associates of the Antagonist while her sister had been abducted by the Mitchell's themselves. Both girls had been programmed to believe that they were really sisters and tended to overlook any differences as being things that made them unique. Elizabeth was being held as leverage to protect the Mitchell's associates while her sister was simply taken as their desire for a family. There was concern when Elizabeth married an FBI agent, but as Peter hadn't looked too deeply into the family history he never realized what was right in front of him so eventually the problem took a back seat.

Raid two against the handlers was also initiated at seven hundred hours and arranged by Joseph Ryder, however, this raid was handled by the Boston FBI office. The arrest was based on the old abduction of Elizabeth's sister and the continued efforts to ensure that she never realized the truth of her identity. This ensured that the arrest went down, but the Antagonist and any allies would be more inclined to leave Elizabeth alone after the dust had settled.

*******

Case 3:

Handlers: Mason and Hannah Burke

Report Summary:

Simultaneous with the other two raids against the handlers was the raid for Mason and Hannah Burke. After Ryan Peter Ryder had been abducted, programmed with an Intersect, and the chip implanted he was handed over to his new parents. There he was renamed Peter Burke and raised an only child in northern New York. He grew up living a normal life of Eagle Scouts, baseball with the local kids, and a seemingly strong family environment full of fond memories. His strong inclination for math and baseball led him to college on a math scholarship where he earned a CBA only to follow it up with a brief stint as a professional player for the Twins team. An injury cut his career short and, despite being offered many professional positions in the math world, he instead turned to the FBI for his career choice. Working his way through the ranks and departments he eventually settle in the Manhattan office working in the White Collar division where he became the lead agent. Peter gained the nickname of the Archeologist because he always dug for the truth, and he earned the status of legendary because he was able to catch the most elusive White Collar criminal of his time not only once, but three times.

For the Burkes, Peter was a bit of a challenge at times because, despite the efforts to suppress his personality, Peter had still shown through. His no nonsense, justice oriented, by the book, earning what he wants via perseverance and hard work ways didn't really work so well with their way of going about life. They were left with the challenge of raising the boy who was all about doing the right thing and letting the pieces fall where they would, while they themselves had to hide their criminal activities from him. There was the perk that the efforts to erase his memory had been successful between the head injury that knocked him out, and the Intersect, so he was not suspicious to look deeper into his past or what was going on around him.

Taking advantage of the ongoing crimes that the Burkes had been involved in the warrants were focused on their alternative activities while leaving Peter safely disconnected. Starting at seven hundred hours Agent Ryder coordinated the arrest while the Albany office carried it out.

*******

Reading over the reports, the three raids were carried out in sync removing the leverage and clearing the way for the remaining projects to be taken down as well.

I am proud that my oldest son Joseph has been able to successfully complete the operation that his brother Nicholas started. Combining their efforts the lost ones are now safe, and free to learn the truth. It is now only a matter of breaking it to them gently and bringing back into the family environment that has been missing them for so long.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are up to the case chapters. There are four chapters like this. The first is this chapter with the handlers going down, the next two are the main groups of the Antagonist, and the last case chapter is where the leader goes down. Then we have three chapters to wind down the plot and have the reveal of a secret that I look forward to your thoughts on :D
> 
> As promised, I am posting early this week. I leave on a trip tomorrow night and will be traveling to and then through the NE USA. When I get back, I plan on posting that night (Sunday) if I can, and if there is too much going on I plan on posting Monday night at the latest.
> 
> I hope you all will let me know what you think, leave a comment, or make a request and give me something to read on the long road trip :D


	12. Chapter Eleven: Dominoes - Taking Apart the Web Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first part of the case against the Antagonist.

Speaker: Director General Diane Beckman

Location: Washington DC Office

Activity: Reviewing reports before closing cases on the Antagonist Projects.

One domino of a raid began the game to be immediately followed by the others with some an open and shut case breaking their trail of dominos short while others continued to branch out seemingly leaving the connections to the Antagonist far behind for other realms of the criminal world.

With the intention of avoiding blowback from any Antagonist allies each take down had an additional legal reason for the arrest beyond the subterfuge of the projects activities. Still some unresolved problems were a cause for worry with the possibility of danger down the road.

**********

Common Points for all cases in Chapter 11:

Organization: антагонист (AKA: Antagonist)

Lead Operation: Dominoes

Sub Operation: Caffrey

Director of Operations: Nick Ryder (AKA: Shield)

*******

Case 1:

Project: Торговые секреты (AKA: Communication Network)

Leader: Anja Krupin

Purpose: Collect and Move Information

Agent in charge: Zach Ryder (AKA: Shadow)

Agency Affiliation: NSA (Task Force)

Report Summary:

The raid was set to begin at eight hundred hours with a full complimentary task force led by NSA Agent Zachary Ryder. Our target was the Торговые секреты aka the Communication Network of the Antagonist. We were hitting the key to the organization by taking down the project who kept track of everything from who was involved with what to what was being done where and why. In addition, taking them down first meant that the other projects had no means to put out the emergency call alerting the rest to disperse and hide which would have led to a drug out man hunt for each person who got away.

Our first move was to close off communications going in or out of the building. To do that, we took advantage of the projects cover as a think tank and their usage of its systems to find and sell information. Utilizing their espionage efforts we got a warrant to shut down everything in the building and our undercover operative blocked efforts to push the distress signal. Our agents rushed in and the building was quickly secured. Domino one was down and now the rest would soon follow as the signal went out for the remaining nine raids to begin simultaneously.

After the initial details of the raid Agent Ryder directed the various agencies involved to ensure that everything got to their rightful locations and conducted negotiations whenever anyone had arguments of overlapping jurisdiction. Once the building was cleared and the evidence logged Ryder left to continue in another aspect of the operation.

*******

Case 2:

Project: Инженеры Компьютерные (AKA: Evil Intersect)

Leader: Maxim Zolnerowich

Purpose: Encrypt data into Intersect

Agent in charge: Chuck Ryder/Carmichael (AKA: Guardian)

Agency Affiliation: CIA (Team Bartowski)

Report Summary:

After receiving the signal to begin, raid two commenced led by Director Special Agent Charles Carmichael. Its purpose was for the first entry team to get all evidence of the Intersect removed as well as the data it concealed before the backup support team entered to contain the rest of the project. The target was Инженеры Компьютерные which is easier known at the Evil Intersect. This particular project hid behind a legitimate company called Aggregate Computer Programming, only some of the employees had set up a "special computer" to run advanced simulations and data which were not a part of the company's approved testing options. In order to get this computer the involved persons committed several counts of computer fraud by infiltrating our system to gain the technical plans and details of its operation, which is what we officially arrested them for.

Agent Carmichael and his partner, Agent Sarah Walker, entered the premises under the guise of being new employees. They were scheduled for a meeting with another employee, portrayed by our inside agent Frost, who would give them a tour before they began their duties. At that point the two agents were to slip unnoticed into the Intersect room and decommission the computer quietly while removing the information that would point out its true function before leaving.

A problem arose when the room had newly placed armed guards who immediately opened fire upon seeing unfamiliar faces. Forced to flash, Agent Carmichael went on the defensive using a combination of stealth and hand to hand tactics. He maneuvered around the room using the equipment to hide his progress and took advantage of Agent Walker's returning their fire to sneak up on his opponents and engage them in combat. Once the room was clear, both agents succeeded in removing the Intersect and cleared out the information of its existence from the main frame leaving only a computer shell made from stolen designs and a bunch of unconscious hired guns. Slipping out via the air ducts they had their portion completed.

Meanwhile, Frost indicated that the backup team begin to catch the remaining culprits before they were able to escape using the situation as a distraction. She also personally prevented the leader of the project from sending out a distress signal and initiated a lock down on the Intersect room allowing the others to complete their task without further interruption. Despite the plan not going smoothly, it was a success as all of the data related to the Intersect was retrieved and all parts of the project were accounted for.

*******

Case 3:

Project: Торговцы оружием (AKA: Weapon Dealers)

Leader: Grigori Utkin

Purpose: Supply Illegal Weapons

Agent in charge: Col. Alexander Ryder (AKA: John Casey)

Agency Affiliation: NSA/Marines (Special Ops)

Report Summary:

Our third raid had a strong possibility for violence, which is exactly what the team leader Colonel John Casey liked. He led a Special Ops task force against project Торговцы оружием which is the weapons supplier for the Antagonist. The opponents in this were going down for dealing illegal weapons so they were highly trained and extremely well-armed. To avoid any distress signals going out the Colonel put his itchy trigger finger and a sniper rifle to use for shooting out the system before initiating the action. Taking precautions the teams used flash grenades and smoke bombs to disorient the dealers before entering the compound well shielded in protective gear. There were a few minor shoot outs but the situation was cleared quickly and efficiently.

*******

Case 4:

Project: Искусство Факэ (AKA: Forgers)

Leader: Dimetrius Orlov

Purpose: Supply Fake Documents/Art Works

Agent in charge: Special Agent Ryan Ryder (AKA: Peter Burke)

Agency Affiliation: FBI (White Collar)

Report Summary:

Raid four had a unique problem to circumvent from the very beginning. With Agent Neal Camden undercover as the inside man for project Искусство Факэ, the forger crew, they were familiar with the face of Caffrey. To work around this, the plan was for Agent Burke and Caffrey to enter undercover and ensure the project were all present for the raid while Agent Camden conducted his own raid for another project.

The White Collar team was investigating a series of robberies that were replaced with forgeries. They traced the crimes back to the crew and Caffrey went in as a young artist interested in expanding his resume into criminal endeavors taking Agent Burke, his assistant, along with him. Using his real history as a secretive, professional artist Caffrey hid his appearance with large sun glasses and a bandana over his hair while leaving Peter to be the voice of the team to organize the details.

When the day came for the raid, Agents Jones and Barrigan led the backup teams covering the front and rear of the warehouse while Agent Burke and Caffrey entered to set up the job which would cement the case against the crew. However, things didn't go as planned when the two were surrounded, hoods placed over their heads, and they were rushed out of a secret side entrance. After being slipped past the backup teams a van transported them to a new location.

There, Agent Burke and Caffrey were strapped into chairs before being left alone, still blinded by hoods. As expected, it didn't take the two long to escape and sneaking down the hall they were surprised to run into armed guards en route to the room they had just left. Seeing their efforts to escape, the guards opened fire hitting Agent Burke in the chest before there was time to react. Supporting his injured partner, Caffrey ducked into the nearest room and blocked the door.

Assured that no one would be coming into the interior closet any time soon, Caffrey began setting up shop. For his cover, he was carrying a bag full of his personal art supplies and in anticipation of possible trouble he had also hidden an emergency kit in a secret compartment. (No one had thought to take the bag figuring that he was harmless with a few paints and brushes). This left him locked in an interior closet with field surgical kit, lights, and a few other necessary items for their survival.

Utilizing his training and supplies Caffrey set up the lights, cleared a space to use for the necessary operation, got Agent Burke into position, and laid out his tools. Despite his severe blood loss and extreme pain, Agent Burke was vaguely aware of what was going on around him and made attempts at protesting the idea of an untrained man doing an emergency surgery into his chest, even though his very life depended on it. In an effort to reassure Agent Burke, Caffrey explained to him the entire process, what each tool was for, and promised that Caffrey may not have medical training, but he did. With no other options and time running out, Burke allowed Caffrey to put him under and proceed with the surgery.

Meanwhile, when Agent Burke and Caffrey found themselves surrounded they said the code word signaling the backup teams to initiate the raid. Receiving the signal Agents Jones and Barrigan gained access and cleared the first location quickly. Finding their team mates missing, a man hunt was being organized when Jones received a signal that hadn't been previously arranged. It came through on his phone with GPS coordinates and a message that could have only come from Caffrey. A response team was dispatched to the location and proceeded to gain entry to the second location. Cautious of a trap the team proceeded with care only to be guided right to the closet by the lights in the hallway blinking in an unnatural pattern. As some agents got Peter to the hospital with Caffrey in tow, others continued to clear the building only to find the remaining culprits tranquilized in the original room where Agent Burke and Caffrey had been left.

*******

Case 5:

Project: человека Торговля (AKA: Human Trafficking)

Leader: Lenka Kozlov

Purpose: Move People in secret

Agent in charge: Joseph Ryder (AKA: Joe)

Agency Affiliation: FBI (Missing Persons)

Report Summary:

Much of the work for raid five was distributed around the world, but the main efforts were to take down the headquarters of project человека Торговля, which is associated with human trafficking. For the Antagonist they acted as a means of getting people in and out of countries in secret due to their front in the import/export industry and experience in various forms of human trafficking. With several hubs and thousands of victims involved, removing the head was the key priority to stopping this particular snake while the rest of the organization was to be dismantled by task forces around the globe.

Leading the raid for the New York team was Agent Joseph Ryder and his team of Missing Person agents. They were the spear head taking on the brains of this particular branch of slave trade in an effort to close hundreds if not thousands of missing person cases, and aid in completing the task of taking out the Antagonist. To begin, they created a distraction to draw the guards away from the prisoners where one team took them out of play allowing for a second team to enter and create a wall of protection around the victims that were on site. As the perpetrators were cleared out of one side of the premises to be hauled away in police vans, the victims were cleared out of the other side to be greeted with medical care. While some of the task force processed the prisoners for jail and compiled the case evidence against them, the rest began sitting down with the victims one by one to discover their information so as to get them each back to their respective homes or begin the process of getting them new homes for those who had nowhere to go. This was a long painstaking process, but well worth it to see the faces of the parents and families as they embraced their missing loved one and the faces of those who had faced bleak futures to once again be safely ensconced in the comforts of home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TBC in part two
> 
> This chapter has a part that was inspired by "No Thief Like Fear" by last1stnding. I used the idea of Neal trapped in a closet with a shot and bleeding Peter.  
> \----  
> I would like to thank sarafine-ecleips for their reviews and questions a while back, and shortblonde5 for following my story :D  
> ____  
> Sorry for not posting yesterday. I didn't get home until the wee hours of the morning this morning and I went straight to bed. Over the course of my trip I was briefly in St. Louis, Washington DC, and New York City. We were in St Louis at the Arch Monument, DC at the Monuments and White House, and New York City over the George Washington Bridge, the Bronx (due to missing a turn), and through the highway systems for Manhattan and a few other areas, and a crossed the Long Island Sound from a lot of the city. I have pictures from St. Louis and DC, but nothing clear of NYC due to distance, dark, and only having a phone camera. In the future there are some ideas for stories and details based on having been personally in some of the cities that are settings or referred to in both Chuck and White Collar.


	13. Chapter Eleven: Dominoes - Taking Apart the Web Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finishing up taking apart the main organization of The Antagonist.

Common Points for all cases in Chapter 11:

Organization: антагонист (AKA: Antagonist)

Lead Operation: Dominoes

Sub Operation: Caffrey

Director of Operations: Nick Ryder (AKA: Shield)

**********

Case 6:

Project: Организованная преступность (AKA: Organized Crime)

Leader: Andrei Kuznetsov

Purpose: Goons for hire

Agent in charge: William Ryder (AKA: Cade Tanner)

Agency Affiliation: FBI (Organized Crime)

Report Summary:

Project Организованная преступность or the organized crime group, left a risk of back lashing as a result of the take downs. They functioned as a means for the Antagonist to hire out their dirty work while avoiding a direct, traceable connection to implicate them through RICO laws. This proved to be difficult to take down with so many criminals related indirectly with no traceable means of connection.

Cracking the Antagonist information system allowed for Agent Tanner to lead the Organized Crime division in the take down for this group using the RICO laws that applied to them and the data on the favorite hires to catch the most dangerous of the connected criminals. Taking advantage of the lack of communication between those involved it was easy to take down the known associates without threat of others being warned. However, no one knew who all was involved so this raid was successful in containing the known elements but there was still more work to be done before this group could be completely removed.

**********

Case 7:

Project: Убийца кольцо (AKA: Assassin Ring)

Leader: Kira Pasternack

Purpose: Remove Enemies/Obstacles

Agent in charge: Bryce Ryder/Larkin (AKA: Phantom)

Agency Affiliation: CIA (Task Force)

Report Summary:

Assassins were the problem for raid six with project Убийца кольцо, a group used to remove enemies and obstacles for the Antagonist in the permanent sense of the word. This CIA task force was led by Agent Larkin and took on some former agents along with those who had training to compete with them.

To arrange the raid, the undercover agent created a reason for the group to be in one location at short intervals in between each other. It was no small feat to accomplish but it was successful, although all were running on high levels of paranoia. Due to the danger of the situation the arresting agents used stealth and the environment to sneak up on some of the assassins while others were chased fleeing into traps. One of the assassins proved to be extremely intelligent and particularly agile. Kira succeeded in evading all attempts to capture her and was in the process of out running the pursuing agents when Agent Larking stepped in. Utilizing his own intelligence and agility Agent Larkin took a different tangent of pursuit which proved more difficult, but faster. Spinning from behind a corner Agent Larkin took the assassin by surprise halting her progress and engaging her in combat. The fight was short lived but intense with each endeavoring to take the other one down, if knocked down it was a point to get the opponent down as well or to get back up quickly. Eventually Agent Larkin pulled an unexpected reversal of direction to land the finishing blow and render his opponent unconscious. Completing the raid all of the assassins were accounted for and the project as well as many murder cases were closed.

*******

Case 8:

Project: черный рынок (AKA: Smugglers)

Leader: Larissa Alkaev

Purpose: Transport Items

Agent in charge: Cole Barker

Agency Affiliation: MI6 (INTERPOL)

Report Summary:

Catching a group of smugglers who are never in the same place at the same time takes a more drawn out plan of attack and the efforts of many to accomplish. The project черный рынок was just such a scenario. 007 Agent Cole Barker worked with MI6 and Interpol to pull off raid number eight.

Using the exposed information network and the files on each person involved to pin point where each smuggler was supposed to be and what they tended to transport, each one was met with their own team of local arresting officers. Tackling this raid as a number of small one man smuggling operations made this simpler on the case side, and distanced any association with the take downs having anything to do with eradicating the Antagonist.

*******

Case 9:

Project: торговцы наркотиками (AKA: Drug Dealers)

Leader: Igus Polzin

Purpose: Money Laundering

Agent in charge: Nate Camden

Agency Affiliation: DEA ( Task Force)

Report Summary:

Frequently synonymous with drug dealing is money laundering. Project торговцы наркотиками is no exception to this as they use their drug industry for income but gain some extra on the side by using their laundering process to clean the Antagonist's money as well. With heavy involvement from the drug cartels raid nine was manned by DEA task forces led by Agent Nate Camden. Since the dealers didn't see the raid coming this was another raid that went pretty much as planned and managed to follow the standard operating procedures for the agencies involved.

*******

Case 10:

Project: Черный Конверты (AKA: Black Mailers)

Leader: Dima Lagunov

Purpose: Provide Distraction

Agent in charge: Neal Camden

Agency Affiliation: FBI (Fraud)

Report Summary:

When there is a large organization getting into trouble they tend to have some method of distraction to ensure that the larger scheme isn't caught onto. For the Antagonist they used the Черный Конверты for this by having them blackmail selected targets from time to time. If they were not currently in use by the Antagonist this group tended to get into various forms of fraudulent activities. For this reason the FBI Fraud department was led by Agent Neal Camden for raid ten.

Agent Camden set up a sting where he placed an undercover agent posing as an easy mark for identity theft while setting up the group with a reason to steal the identity via the undercover agent inside their group. As the group chased the mark for the identity the undercover agent recorded it all for posterity, and the proceeded to tape the heist as well. Since everything was set up with a dummy system and the target was designed to be a cyber-crime no one was actually hurt, yet it provided the opening for the group to be taken down for all of the crimes that they had been involved in. With the criminals more focused on their next score this case was easily closed.

*******

The web has been dismantled, the leverage removed, and the Spider is all that remains to be apprehended. After four generations of blood, sweat, and tears the organization is crumbling quickly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all are liking the case format:) There is one more chapter to go with this layout and then we are going to be back to the same format as the story began with.
> 
> When this story is completed, do you want me to go on to post the excerpts next, or would you like me to post another story first? If you would like another story you can pick from my completed list on my profile page (fanfiction.net KeJae). (I have too many stories that I want to share so I'll let you the readers chose what you want to read next :D).
> 
> I'm getting a layout set to begin another story and I am going to put forth a question to you all :D The question is, is there any cat and mouse games between Neal and Peter that you would like to see? The story I am working on is called "Journeys..." Basically, I want to do a new twist on the progress of the relationship between Neal and Peter, but I am presently coming up dry on cat and mouse game ideas...


	14. Chapter 12: Checkmate - The Spider is removed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The leader of The Antagonist is finally revealed.

*******

Speaker: Agent Nicholas Joseph Ryder

Location: NSA Base in undisclosed location

Activity: Reading the reports that conclude my families work for a total of four generations of efforts.

My grandfather, Nicholas Alexander Ryder, was the lead agent of the task force that initially discovered the existence of the Antagonist. I grew up listening to the tales of chases, stake outs, research, and the risks that went along with the work to uncover a devious and evil opponent. When I reached maturity I decided to carry on my father's and grandfather's work through a different agency but with the same goal of defeating the Antagonist once and for all…someday.

I met my wife Elizabeth Barker, a field doctor for the NSA, when she treated me for my injuries after an assignment had gone wrong. We got to know each other during my recovery and kept in touch when we got separated. Eventually we married and took safer assignments closer to home to raise our children. Our oldest son is Joseph who is followed up by our identical quadruplet boys Nicholas, Alexander, Zachary, and William with our youngest being identical twin girls Moriah and Mary. Each one of them has chosen agencies, military divisions, and civilian careers of their choices, but they all have taken up the family business, so to speak, by fighting the Antagonist. My second son Nicholas has become the leader of this effort for our entire family as well as the others who have been involved. We have speculated whether his determination and being nominated to leadership sprung from his past experiences, his family genetics to fight back for what he believes in, or the influence of his names because Nicholas and Neal are the names of his grandfathers who were the lead two agents of the original task force. Personally, I think it is all three that make him who he is and continue to take him where he is going.

*******

Organization: антагонист (AKA: Antagonist)

Project: Секрет Лидер (AKA: Secret Leader)

Leader: Emmery Rune

Purpose: Control the Organization Antagonist

Lead Operation: Checkmate

Sub Operation: Dominoes

Director of Operations: Nick Ryder (AKA: Shield)

Lead Agent in charge: Nick Ryder (AKA: Shield)

Agency Affiliation: NSA (The Big Four and the Camden twins)

Report Summary:

Agent Nicholas Ryder is the man responsible for discovering the existence of the spider in the web, the player behind the game. He noticed something was off when ten unrelated criminal operations were connected via the threads of crime, but what instigated the creation of the web remained a blank spot. Following logic it was understandable that when there is a web there is a spider, a game has a player, and an organization like the Antagonist must have a mastermind pulling the strings from somewhere.

After Agent Chuck Ryder discovered the keys and unlocked the information network the web began to become more apparent. Following the threads intricate path back to the source was tedious but Agent Nick persisted and found a prominent point where everything connected, the central funnel that extended further into the murky underworld. This eventually led back to a club that show cased potential stars, was frequented by the nefarious of the underworld, and used as a social hangout for the general public.

The potential suspects for the Секрет Лидер, or secret leader, created quite a list and posed as a challenge to narrow down. Agents began spending time in the club mingling amongst the crowd with cameras attached to buttons, glasses, and anything else that would go unnoticed in order to get a scope of the people in the place. This was combined with schematics, records, and data quietly collected through official channels. Two potential suspects stood out with the first being the owner who left the lime light to the stars in the making that graced his stage, and the second being an inconspicuous fellow who worked out of the back room between social visits to the main floor. Upon further investigation the two suspects turned out to be one shady character.

Emmery Rune had inherited the club from his father, and so on, going back for a total of five generations. Arnold Rune was the second to own the club and was the one to begin the criminal connections. He grew up in the place and learned early how to tell when a cop was in the crowd and when someone was up to crime. Once he was old enough he rubbed elbows with both groups at the bar and learned tricks to both sides. Deciding that crime would be more profitable, he started cementing connections to the criminal side while keeping up a friendly front with the law to avoid suspicion. The skills he learned and the connections he made were passed through the generations with each adding to the collection until the current Rune had the empire we knew of as the Antagonist, and no direct connections to it for us to arrest him by.

To find those connections, Agent Nick had a simple plan. Arrest the handlers to protect the lost ones, remove the strong arm by disassembling the web of projects, and then give the leader of the Antagonist time to figure out what had happened. When he figured out what had transpired Rune would be forced into a *zugzwang. His choices being, leave his connections to the many crimes open for RICO charges should they be discovered in the search, or to dispose of those connections which also endangered him of being caught in suspicious actions that could open up investigations of their own. If he chose to leave them, then we would find them eventually while watching him in the meanwhile, and if he chose to dispose of them, our watch was designed to be there to whisk them away as soon as they were exposed.

Our next challenge was how to be close to Rune without tipping him off that he was under surveillance. The club was a great cover because we couldn't directly tie him to the Antagonist due to his back room dealings, and his front room work was what so many others were doing that he blended into the crowd. He would recognize the direct approach and a prolonged effort would leave a gap for him to slip through and start the whole process over again, so we researched the comings, goings, and general hierarchy of the club for a likely in. Then upon discovering that the best way in was to be entertainment, with a crooked angle on the side, we set about planning performers and a show.

Taking a personal lead on this case the director of the operations played an active, yet distraction based role as one of the performers. Teaming up with some of his brothers and cousins an interesting performance was designed. To hide their identities the performers used make up, costumes, and stage names. They were dubbed "The Big Four" which comprise of Agent Chuck Ryder playing the lead role as "Guardian" while Agents Nick, Bryce, and Zach Ryder played the assisting roles of "Shield", "Phantom", and "Shadow" accordingly. The plan was for the performers to use a combination of singing and dancing with illusions to play up the fact that three of them were identical. Creating the allusion of one, becoming many, becoming three, and mixing up how many were or weren't on the stage took mirrors, smoke, distraction, and the occasional time when someone would actually leave the stage. Rune was nervous not being able to tell how many were really on the stage or not, but being that it was unique and kept the attention of test audiences it had the potential of making the club quite the money maker. He agreed and worked to create a contract with the manager and press agent who were played by the twins Agents Nate and Neal Camden.

Working at the club the teams began to set up a side story that they were criminals looking for connections. Taking advantage of their street credit, which had been created through a variety of undercover roles over the years, they were able to prove they were the "real deal" and waited until there were enough rumors to draw Rune's attention. Soon the whispers reached him and he began to test them with questions and hypothetical conversations including his own predicament. He posed it as a predator hiding its prey from other predators.

"Do you leave it hidden in one location where others have been searching, or do you move it to another location to eat it at the risk of being caught in transfer?"

Wanting him to lead us to the evidence they said that they would go with moving it. The explanation for the decision was that if the area it was in was already being searched, the odds were good for discovery, but if he made the move and was successful at hiding it until it was eaten, then if discovered, there would be nothing left to be of value. Chuckling, he slapped Agent Nate on the shoulder as he was the one who voiced the opinion and was seated right next to him. Rune complimented the teams on choosing such a good manager and walked away.

For a few days Rune muttered distractedly to himself and threw tempers in the back office as he hit dead ends one after another. Apparently we had been as effective at removing his support as we had hoped, so with nowhere else to go he went to the teams. His approach was to ask if they knew of anyone in the movers business since his had been burned recently. They denied having those connections, but hinted at having had experience doing their own moving when needed.

This was a "too good to be true" scenario that good performers with criminal skills just happened to show up so close to his entire empire being destroyed. That is why Agent Nick chose to use the *zugzwang to force him into action despite his reservations on lucky coincidences.

To ease Rune's discomfort the team pointed out that they were already contracted to work for him so their careers and his had links which made it beneficial for them if he stayed in business. Relaxing a little, he explained that there were some paintings hidden in a warehouse and it would be best if they found new homes in a fire somewhere without drawing attention.

Together, Rune and the teams began creating a plan and came to the conclusion that they would use the debut on Friday, mixed with the identical twins factor, to get the job done during the distraction. Meanwhile, they would have all been present at the show which provided an alibi should anything ever come into question later. Rune liked this as it covered all of the angles so he gave Agent Nate the key to the warehouse and information on what was to be moved. After verifying that this was the evidence we needed, the performing team began practicing the show leaving a means for one of the three quads to slip away for a while with one of the twins to pull off the job.

On the night of the show we had a packed audience and all eyes were on the stage. It was easy for Agent Neal to slip away with Agent Nick and collect the evidence from the warehouse. They slipped back into their places before the show ended and, despite the crowd keenly looking to discover the tricks, no one was the wiser that anyone had ever left.

Once the show was completed and after the crowd had cleared out Rune decided to celebrate their success in his back office. He was giddy now that the evidence was destroyed and his luck appeared to be turned around, so it didn't take long for him to slip. His confession started by laughing at the simplicity of his organizations name. It was антагонист, which means antagonist in Russian, and the coincidentally ironic part was that the agents who discovered him call him the Antagonist for lack of a better name. Our final nail in his career coffin was when he began to brag about how he had run a ten project organization with three means of leverage on the law, and how the teams had just destroyed the "smoking gun" that connected him as leader of it all. Going along with his drunken humor Agent Nick asked Rune if he wanted to know his real name. Deciding that he might as well get to know his new associates Rune decided to guess. After giving him several failed attempts Agent Nick's voice went dead serious.

"You'll never guess because I am Agent Nicholas Neal Ryder the great-grandson of Agents Nicholas Ryder and Neal Barker. My ancestors discovered the existence of yours, we fought over the generations with your criminal empire versus our justice, and now I am finishing it with your arrest."

The look on Rune's face was a mixture of pure horror and white fury as his shocked brain caught up to the implications of what had transpired. He went for his hidden weapon and drew it on Agent Nick only to discover that we had removed the bullets. Unable to fight back, Emmery Rune was arrested and faced every RICO charge that we could possibly level against him.

With the leader going through the judicial process, the strong arm criminal element facing plenty of charges of their own, and the leverage removed, the Antagonist had been successfully taken from the playing field.

*******

My son's plan was successful and all of our work had accumulated to the grand finale. Rune was right to be worried as the good luck to make a large profit doesn't come up with the means to cover past indiscretion, unless there is something big to be lost in exchange. However, being in *zugzwang Rune had no safe choice, He gambled and chose to dispose of the connections, placing his bet on being lucky. It was checkmate, a game over scenario the instant he gave up the locations and details of the evidence, his confession just created a perfect double.

The job has gone full circle from beginning with agents Nicholas Ryder and Neal Barker discovering the Antagonist to the final raid being led by their mutual great grandson Nicholas Neal Ryder. All that remains is bring the lost ones home, and moving on with our lives.

**********

***Zugzwang** **-** (German for "compulsion to move", pronounced [ˈtsuːktsvaŋ]) is a situation found in chess and other games, where one player is put at a disadvantage because he must make a move when he would prefer to pass and not move. The fact that the player is compelled to move means that his position will become significantly weaker. A player is said to be "in zugzwang" when any possible move will worsen his position. (According to Wikipedia).

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so excited :D Three more chapters and my first story will be completely posted! Since no one, but my sister, has presented a preference of order, I'll go with my original plan to post the Excerpts next.


	15. Chapter 13: The Lost Ones

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The lost ones are finally going to start learning what is really going on.

*******

Today we are having a BBQ at my house to bring the family who are available together for a visit and to introduce Sarah to the lost ones. She flew out for the case and has hung around for a while to meet the family.

In the house my kids are watching out the windows eagerly awaiting our guests arrivals. My wife is preparing the food in the kitchen and I am surveying the yard which looks like everything is ready. The toys have been picked up, leaving out only those appropriate for the kids who will be here, the seating is arranged for conversations, the grill is ready to be fired up, and everything is dog proofed so even Satchmo can feel at home. Joining my wife in the kitchen she assigns me the task of hauling out anything that is prepared and safe to leave out. Then, with everything ready it is time to fire up the grill and wait for the guest while it heats.

As the smell of the smoke waifs through the air I am reminded of childhood days when I used to play with my siblings and cousins while the adults joined us or watched from the side lines. I am excited by the memories because I know some of those same siblings and cousins will be here anytime so that we can carry on the memories as the adults watching our kids playing together in the yard with some participation ourselves. We have come a long way towards getting the family back together and the lost ones have been through a lot lately, so a day to relax and enjoy the fruits of our labors is good.

*******

After the raids were finished there were mountains of paperwork to be completed. Missing Persons had to compile the files for all of the victims of the human trafficking, the perpetrators of the human trafficking, the handlers, and the lost ones. Luckily the work didn't just go through my agents and I, or we would have literally been buried alive by it all. Still, we spent several weeks working from dawn until dusk and several occasions where we were in the office around the clock trying to catch up on the paperwork to get all of the cases closed.

Eventually catching up enough to return my focus back to my missing family members it became time to start filling them in. I set up a meeting to be held in a conference room connected to my department. Peter, Elizabeth, and Cade were coming to talk about their recent abductions, while I was going to begin to tell them the whole story.

At the appointed time the three of them ended up meeting in the elevator and coming in together. After the greetings, I requested they sit down as there was some potentially shocking information to go over and in order to keep from overloading them I was going to break things down into pieces until they had the whole story. This caught their reserved but intrigued attention. They knew a lot more was going on than what was being told to them, but those who knew kept telling them to wait as it would all be explained later.

Placing their missing person files in front of them I told them to open the files up and examine them before I would begin explaining the reasons behind their content. While they carefully read what was in the files and looked at the attached pictures. I watched as their faces ranged from surprised through confusion to sorrow and even anger. Seeing that the three of them had completed reviewing their files I gave them a few minutes to absorb the information and regain control over their emotions.

When they looked like they were ready, I began explaining their files. To begin with, the reason for them not being rescued lay in the conflict between their families and the Antagonist. After they were abducted the handlers held them as leverage against their families on the behalf of the Antagonist they threatened. In order to keep and utilize them as leverage, chips had been placed in the back of their necks which could kill them remotely.

All three of them automatically fingered the spot where the chip had recently been removed and understanding dawned on their faces as they connected that their recent abductions were the means of removing said chips. Nodding yes to their questioning gazes I confirmed their assumptions and continued to explain the files.

There was another reason that the files were incomplete. Besides the conflict, their parents wanted them to know that they hadn't just stood by and let them be taken. They searched, found them, and were nearby all along wishing to leave a way for them to know that, only, they had to keep that information from reaching the Antagonist. The partially filled out missing person files seemed to have been a good way of going about reaching both goals.

Cade had relaxed his anger some with this knowledge so I was glad that my parents had taken the risk in filling out the forms at all. Still, there was a tension and sorrow emanating from all three of them that left them looking like the weight of the world was resting on their shoulders. They needed to know about Nick. Finally, I began to tell them about the person their files showed had been hurt each time one of them was taken. I told them what they needed to hear most of all, that he was alive and well.

Having finished the first points that they needed to know I told them that the conference room was going to be used for the purpose of reintroducing them so they could feel free to come look at the files or pictures any time they felt the need. Leaving them alone, I went back to my office and wrote my reports for the first stage of their recovery.

*******

I gave them a week to come to terms with their entire past being lies, it was time for the second stage. Meeting in the conference room again, I had the files on their handlers waiting on the table. I told them that we would proceed like we did last time with them looking at the files before we talked.

After reviewing the files Elizabeth was the one with the most trepidations because she was worried about what this meant for her "sister" that was also raised by her handlers. Soothing her concerns, I explained that yes her sister had also been abducted, but out of the Mitchell's interest in having a family. They were unable to have children, their illegal activities kept them from adopting legally, so they utilized their criminal skill to take a daughter of their choosing. It was easy for them to agree to take on a second daughter, especially with the promise that both girls would be programmed to believe the stories they were told.

At the mention of the word "programmed" all three of them looked up at me, but I held up a finger for them to wait before anyone could bombard me with questions.

Finishing my point to Elizabeth, I told her that her sister had already been de-programmed and was working with her family to reclaim what had been lost.

Picking up their new point of interest, I told them that yes they had each been programmed to forget who they were, think they were someone else, and to remember a past that doesn't exist. I went on to explain that reversing the process was something that took expertise I didn't have, and Chuck wouldn't be back from helping Elizabeth's sister for a few more days so the rest of that would have to wait until after he returned.

Growing more accustomed to the fact that life wasn't what it had seemed, they took this information better than they would have even a week ago. Again, I left them to discuss and adjust to the information amongst themselves while I returned to my office and waiting reports.

*******

After a few days Chuck arrived back in town so we began setting up a make shift system to remove the Intersect. By "we" I of course mean Chuck and Bryce set it up while I was the errand runner fetching coffees, or lunches as needed. A few more days past while they worked to ensure the system could safely function on the larger scale and a means of utilizing it on three people simultaneously was erected.

Once the system was nerd approved I set up the third meeting, but at a warehouse this time to keep the Intersect out of the office for size and security sakes. When Peter and Elizabeth arrived they were unnerved by the mystery of what was going on and how the system worked. Cade on the other hand saw his twin brother standing as one of the people going to help him and found himself more nervous to meet his brother than he was concerned by the mysterious contraption set up in the middle of the room. Turning this meeting over to Chuck and Bryce, I settled back to play the bystander role.

They began by introducing themselves with Chuck grinning as he said "I have met each of you before, but this time I can tell you that I am everyone's cousin, Chuck."

Bryce was more reserved emotionally, but more detailed saying that he was "Bryce, another cousin and obviously one of Cade's twin brothers. This is not the first time we have met, really I have been around off and on all along, but this is the first time using my real name and face."

Then they proceeded to give a summary of Flemmings class, as he was the professor that taught them about encrypted images, which led to the details of how information, skills, and even the very elements that create a person, like there history, could be programmed into a person via an Intersect. Knowing how weird this was, they showed the group what happened when Chuck was showed pictures leading to him sparring with Bryce or reciting ridiculous amounts of information.

Once they had gone over what had been done to the three to make them forget their past, believe faked pasts, and the efforts that had gone into turning them into people that they weren't, it was time to remove the Intersects. Bryce, Chuck, and I each donned our sunglasses while Chuck instructed the others to look at the big screen. Bryce fired up the system causing the images to start flashing a crossed the screen and the others reacted with their bodies going rigid. We moved to stand behind them should anyone collapse after the system finished its run through. When the screen went black all three of them swayed but we supported them until they had regained equilibrium.

Remembering the killer headaches, Chuck gave each one of them some pain killers with a bottle of water to wash them down with while Bryce explained that it may take a few days for their minds to catch up and refill in all of the blanks. Now all we had to do was watch and wait.

After Chuck dropped the others off at their respective homes, he returned to the warehouse to begin dismantling the Intersect with Bryce. I settled back to fill out my reports and returned to the assistant role until the warehouse was cleared again.

That evening we settled in on the families coded chat site to participate in the excitement with the rest of the family. We had been waiting a long time for all of this so, where the lost ones felt nervous to discover a lost past, we felt anticipation to get re-acquainted after so long of being technically apart.

*******

It didn't take long for Will (Cade) and Elizabeth to begin remembering so after a few days I set up the final meeting. We met at a collection of storage units where I told them that all that was left was for them to remember and get reconnected to the family.

To help them with remembering I handed each one of them an envelope that contained the key to their own personal storage unit. Inside they were each in full possession of their old childhood belongings. For Will and Elizabeth, a preliminary look through was a walk down memory lane full of laughter and tears as they recalled memories connected to each object. Peter on the other hand still had no memory of anything prior to the Intersect being put into his head. For him it was similar to researching the life of a victim in a case. Everything was there in front of him, but he felt no personal connection.

When they asked me about how to reconnect to the family I told them not to worry as they would be "popping up out of the wood works" in some of the most unexpected of places. It would take longer for some than for others as some were still wrapping up details from the Antagonist and other projects while the rest just had to get the chance to make the trip. The closest family members though were sometimes standing right in front of them waiting for the time to step forward and introduce their real selves.

Leaving them to continue their trips down memory lane and the research into their missing past I parted with a final statement. "I hope you remember everything soon, when you recognize who I am you each have my card in your envelope as well as a link into the family online chat site. I'll see you later."

*******

Sitting on the deck with Peter, we are watching the others playing with the children in the yard. Bryce and Will are teaching Ashton how to tell her daddy apart from Uncle Bryce and then testing her abilities to tell the difference in a game fashion. My girls, Jasmine and Natalia, are busy introducing their Aunt Ashley and cousin El to their dolls prior to allowing them to play house with them. Jacob has started a rousing game of squirt guns with his mom and our cousins Chuck and Sarah that will have them all soaked in no time. Satchmo was also brought along for the fun but he is content licking his chops while trying his puppy dog eyes on Uncle Casey who is manning my new Beastmaster grill at his insistence.

Starting conversation, Peter told me that he has been reading so much about his relationship with Nicholas Neal that he feels like he knows him even though he doesn't remember him. "Does it make any sense that I miss a person I don't remember?" Smiling I answered "Yes it does, because your heart remembers the connection even if your mind doesn't. You know, he has been around watching you all along, you see him almost every day as random people on the street, or a face you know well. Due to the threat of blowback he is one of the ones still wrapping up undercover work to make sure the Antagonist doesn't have any allies willing to come after you or anyone else. When he does remove the mask you'll discover that you do know him, you just don't know it yet." Peter settled back to contemplate this for a while as we watched the kids continue to play. Letting him continue to think, I finished setting out some of the food and called everyone up to eat as Casey removed that last of the meat from the grill. Even though Peter doesn't remember us yet, he is surrounded by family and we will help him any way we can until he remembers and is settled back into the family. It is just a matter of time.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, we are finally up to my favorite chapters with only two more to go:D
> 
> You may feel like the story is being told in these chapters, but with holes. I have a lot of excerpts from these, but please let me know of anything you feel is missing. If there is an excerpt that covers the topic we're set, but if there isn't I'll try to get your request worked in as a prompt.
> 
> The request has been made for me to post "Journeys..." next if it is completed in time. If it is, I'll post it next, and if not, I'll post it after the excerpts.


	16. Chapter Fourteen: Caffrey Confusion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jones shares what he has observed about the Caffrey Confusions.

******

The office has cleared out for the evening, but unfortunately I am not included amongst those who have gone home. With Peter spending so much time working on regaining his memory and working through his past my work load has gotten larger as his second in command. I don't mind really, after all I only have an empty apartment to return to so an empty office isn't too much different. Most of my stack is back log work relating to Caffrey. There are his reports to sign off on, the paperwork for his field activities, and the notes on what has been going on. Working my way through I try once again to make sense of it all.

******

Caffrey had been being rather mysterious, even for him. Before his abduction, Caffrey keeping secrets would automatically mean watch his anklet tracking data, try to figure out what angle he was working, and work to get ahead of him to keep him out of trouble, if possible. After his abduction, well, it seemed to be any ones guess.

Things started to get fishy when the CIA/NSA team of agents showed more concern for Neal than just another victim. Then, they went to visit him in the hospital, and not to interrogate him but for a visit. While they were there it came out that they had a personal history with Neal. (Since when did he start hanging out with spook suits?)

The next mystery was Neal's recovery itself. Usually, when someone is tortured that badly it can take months for their bodies to heal. Neal took a few weeks and he was back at work, at that point most would be starting to tinker around the house to kill time with a few more weeks to go before being cleared for active duty. In the office he seemed to be taking it easy and babying injuries, but every once in a while Neal would move too quickly or do something that showed he wasn't as hurt as he should have been.

We listened to the growing suspicions and theories surrounding Neal but, despite everything we had been through, when we asked him for answers all he would say was "Not yet." It was getting to be rather frustrating as he was sounding like the CIA/NSA agents and had obviously been discussing everything with them in their coded chats and surreptitious lunch meetings.

Since answers weren't forth coming, we began looking for them ourselves. Mozzie and Peter had "clandestine meetings," June kept track of who visited Neal at home, Dianna and I worked the office and looked into the visiting agents, and Peter kept close to Neal. What we discovered didn't provide answers, only more questions.

Mozzie talked about inconsistencies with Neal's personality, interests, and general character. Dianna discovered that Agents Casey and Carmichael weren't using their real names (we knew that from what Agent Carmichael told us as well) and had no traceable connections to Neal. I attempted to monitor Agents Casey and Carmichael to figure out who they were, but they were really good and evaded me, almost every time. When I did manage to tail them, they went to lunch or got coffee. Peter tried talking to Neal about the incident that occurred when he was a kid but Neal refused to talk about it giving what had become the standard answer of "Not yet." Then to add to the mystery, Mozzie discovered that he was being followed by Agent Carmichael and Neal's "sort of" cousin per Neal's request to protect him from this Antagonist organization. Finally, there was the mystery of why Agents Casey and Carmichael were still in our office so long after Neal had been rescued and the abduction case closed.

-*-

The only answer that we learned was why the agents remained in our office for so long. That answer came when our next case became the case against the forger crew for the Antagonist. It turned out that Neal's abduction was a part of a much larger international criminal empire which Agents Casey and Carmichael had been fighting for a long time. Since they were on site and had extensive knowledge, they stuck around to get us started. Thing progressed as they usually do with cases and life began to get back into a semblance of normal, normal enough that we could put the mysteries on a back burner and focus on the case.

When we were setting up the raid, Peter's and Neal's covers were blown which led to the two of them being locked in a closet while Peter was bleeding to death. Somehow, Peter's injury got medical attention, lights led the agents right to the closet, and the men in the building were all tranquilized and bound in another room. There had to be someone else involved but Neal would only give his "Not yet" answer while Peter had been too delirious to remember for sure.

-*-

After the Antagonist case was completed our personal focus returned to the Neal mystery while Peter was generally distracted by his and Elizabeth's missing history. Still, Peter and I would meet from time to time to share any new information, or new theories on what we already knew. We generally had these meetings at fairly random times and places just in case Neal's spy buddies decided to check up on us. Since they were being secretive with us it was only fair we were secretive back. Besides, it's not like we knew anything more than general observations and bad theories that couldn't explain what we saw so there wasn't going to be any threat to national security.

One of those meeting with Peter did eventually turn up a new point of interest. We had gone for a run in the park and found ourselves meeting a knowing look alike of Neal's. Agent Nate Camden could prove he wasn't Neal, but he looked just like him and new too much to not have a connection. So, after the incident in the office included Diana we decided to research and see what we could find.

On Monday morning Peter, Diana, and I met early to look into Agent Nathan Camden before the rest of the office came in. Riding the elevator up we divided who was going to research what. It was decided that Peter was going to see if there was something official about Caffrey that would connect him to a DEA agent as well as the CIA and NSA agents that had already been around, Diana was going to research connections from Agent Camden to Neal, and I had the history of Agent Camden.

Our plans changed the instant we walked into the office to find someone, not Neal, working diligently at the first desk. The man did, but didn't, look familiar as he was wearing black slacks, a white button up shirt, sunglasses, and a bandana over his hair. Peter asked him who he was and what he was doing in Neal Caffrey's desk. His response was "Shield, and I am officially your new consultant until further notice," while passing Peter his papers that backed the statement. Looking them over, Peter asked "We already have a consultant so what about Neal Caffrey? And don't tell me some variation of 'Not yet' because he is my friend and I want to know what is going on." Shield sighed and, despite looking to be in his late twenties, his response sounded much older. "Peter, you are frustrated, concerned, and tired of the mysteries being at every turn right down to your own empty past. What you need to understand is that we have been working for decades to complete everything that is going on and have already started to fill you in at the beginning, but there are things that we are not ready to reveal yet. So, despite your request, I will 'Not yet' tell you what is going on in relation to Neal or myself. You're just going to have to trust me that the day is coming when all will be revealed." Turning back to his work he used body language to signify the end of the conversation. With a new addition, we continued to our desks and began researching Shield, Agent Camden, and Neal.

Later, the rest of the office began filing in so Peter decided to call a conference to tell everyone the news at once. When everyone was present, he summarized Shield's papers stating that he was our new consultant while Neal was away indefinitely. Feeling like Neal was being forcefully replaced, no one was pleased, but what choice did we have? Unable to entirely sit back and allow this, the office decided to make their displeasure known in a manner that wouldn't have repercussions. Things started with little comments like "Neal's desk," small references that separated Shield as a temporary participant from the residing team, and Peter never called Shield his partner like he did Neal.

Watching how Shield treated Neal's stuff as if they were his own possessions sparked the second reaction. A few agents stayed late and removed all of Neal's possessions into a box which Peter took home to hold until Neal's return. The next day, Shield came into the office, took one look at Neal's desk, and walked back out with a smirk on his face. When he came back a little while later he had a box filled with his own possessions that he set up to replace Neal's belongings. It seemed that he not only wasn't fazed by our actions, he thought it was amusing.

-*-

We were getting used to having Shield around the office but we still wanted to know what was going on with Caffrey. All of our research had come up with nothing and we were getting worried about Neal. That is, until we walked out of the conference room to see him standing in the middle of the office talking to Shield like they were old friends. Peter stopped midsentence to walk down the stairs and start a crossed the office. Diana and I were following him but before any of us could reach them to ask what was going on Agent Rice entered the office and reached them first. "Caffrey, I need you for a kidnapping case." Neal responded with "I am sorry Agent Rice, but I can't help you. My name is Nate Camden of the DEA and at any moment now an agent from DC will be stepping off of that elevator with documents for me to sign that will officially end Operation Caffrey as backed by the FBI. This will end my consulting agreement per my undercover role and my jurisdiction will return to my agency only. However, my twin brother Neal has also been working the undercover role for Neal Caffrey and, being an FBI agent himself, he will be perfectly capable of helping you out along with our director of operations Shield who is standing beside me." For a moment the entire office was speechless. Then verbal chaos followed as Peter and Agent Rice tried to figure out what was going on while others whispered about the revelation we had just heard.

After a minute or two the elevator arrived as promised and silence reigned again as the agent entered the office. He greeted Agent Camden and passed him a file of papers to be signed in order to close off the operation of his involvement. When the agent left he was passed in the hall by our next visitor who bore a strong resemblance to Elizabeth.

The marshal walked in causing Agent Camden and Shield to grin with greetings of "Nicky" and comments about her being the one to draw the short straw for closing Caffrey with the Marshal's office. With a return grin of her own she answered "I volunteered because I want to remind Nate of his responsibilities for tonight. But, business before pleasure so, how about we get these papers signed and remove the anklet." Agent Camden set to filling out another file of papers and when he completed the task he turned to Peter. "Want to do the honors? I know the four years aren't up but technically I am not a criminal to begin with and since you put it on in the first place… Peter?" Snapping out of his trance like state Peter shrugged in a non-committal way but accepted the key from the marshal. When Peter unlocked the anklet and passed it to the marshal there was an air of finality because it meant that Caffrey was really gone. Even though he had never existed beyond an undercover character, he was a real person to us up until then.

Picking up the file, the marshal informed Agent Camden that he wasn't to forget that it was girls night out so he had better make it home on time to baby sit his son. He chuckled "Kate reminded me this morning and I set a calendar event on my phone with notices so I wouldn't get caught up in closing the operation and forget. Don't worry, I am also looking forward to some quality time with Ben so I have no intention of being late." Accepting his response she turned her attention to Peter. "I can see that you recognize me as your sister-in-law. We haven't met in a long time but Elizabeth will be confirming plans with you later as we are going to be meeting soon. I won't spring everything on you at the moment as you have had enough to comprehend in the last few minutes already, but I also wanted to be the one to be here so that I could tell you in person that I am looking forward to making up for missed time." Peter gave her an overwhelmed nod and she smiled at him before making her exit.

Looking for explanations, we turned to Agent Camden and Shield for answers.

Noticing, Agent Camden stopped playing with his newly reclaimed wedding ring and looked to Shield for help explaining. Discovering that Shield was smirking at him with an expression that said he was on his own with this one, Agent Camden gave him a dirty look before giving us a brief summary. "First, my name is Nate, not Agent Camden, as I can tell many of you are professionally distancing yourselves. We have worked together for years and you know more about me than you think. Now is not the time to go into full details but, from the time I was taken to be raised as Neal Bennett until I was eighteen, you know my general story. How Caffrey came to be, why Kate's death was faked, how two agents came to be playing one role, and the rest of the details will be told to you soon, just not at this moment. If you'll excuse me I have reports and files to close with my agency and a time limit to accomplish them in. I'll see you all later." Handing Agent Rice his brother's card Nate left the office checking his watch to time his duties before his deadline.

Getting serious, Shield told Peter that he would take care of distributing the Caffrey belongings back to their original owners as well as handle anything else Caffrey related that came up. "I am also not going to be going into detail on the Caffrey role, but we have plans to have some fun before we reveal everything in the very near future. Right now, there is a kidnapping case that needs attention so I recommend that everyone gets back to what you were doing before the series of interruptions occurred." As agents began to scatter he turned to Agent Rice "What about this kidnapping case?" She filled him in on the case, which was the random abduction of a person in the wrong place at the wrong time, and he was needed because the kidnapper said "Have Neal Caffrey on speed dial because in twenty four hours the life of our victim will depend on it."

*******

Calling it a night I put my remaining papers in a stack to begin working on tomorrow. I have a bunch of the back log caught up, but there is still a formidable pile to do. Walking down the stairs my attention is caught by Caffrey's desk (as it remains dubbed) and I wonder how long we are going to have to wait before we will finally understand what has been going on. Shaking my head I leave the mysteries for another time and walk through the door to make my way home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter to go :D I don't think I'll be getting Journeys done in the next week (I'm struggling with a chapter), so I'll post it next after the excerpts.
> 
> Can anyone guess what the remaining big secret about Caffrey is going to be?


	17. Chapter Fifteen: Peter Recollects

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final reveal and the completion of the main story... the excerpts are next:D

Life seems to have been nothing but mysteries lately. First, there is my partner who was a secretive con that turned out to be two agents undercover. Then, I was Peter Burke and now I am Ryan Peter Ryder according to what I have been told and read because it turns out that I don't even remember my own name. There is the mystery of how everything connects from the Antagonist, through Caffrey, to my own mysterious past. Finally, there is my cousin, God-brother, and best friend who I am told has been right in front of me all along, only I can't see him, because he is hiding in plain sight. Despite having no memory of him in my head, Joe tells me my heart remembers so I miss the kid a great deal and am clueless as to how he is right in front of me.

*******

_Right now, there is a kidnapping case that needs attention so I recommend that everyone gets back to what you were doing before the series of interruptions occurred." As agents began to scatter he turned to Agent Rice "What about this kidnapping case?" She filled him in on the case, which was the random abduction of a person in the wrong place at the wrong time, and he was needed because the kidnapper said "Have Neal Caffrey on speed dial because starting tomorrow at ten the life of our victim will depend on it."_

The next morning we settled into the office to assist in solving the kidnapping case. All we knew was that someone had a grudge on the FBI and Caffrey so they had abducted a random person to use as bait. We had communication set up through ear buds so that the White Collar, Kidnapping, and Caffrey teams could keep in touch at all times. Agents Camden were set up to play Caffrey under Shield's direction, Agent Rice was in charge of getting the victim home, and White Collar was simply involved as a form of back up for Caffrey since "he" was a part of our team.

At ten o'clock sharp the call came through and a scrambled voice depicted a location for Caffrey to begin solving the puzzle. With the clock ticking the teams raced to do our jobs in the impossible schedule. Somehow, the agents playing Caffrey managed to be in six locations in record times, pass high tech facial recognition, and defuse a series of dangerous traps to complete the challenge. Inspecting a key detail in the bomb, one of the Caffreys was able to tell us who the perpetrator was. Finding addition evidence in tracing the signals and the pictures we got enough hard evidence to get a warrant and execute the arrest. With the situation cleaned up, the victim safe and the kidnapper in custody we were able to close the case quickly.

***

Elizabeth decided to throw a party to celebrate our family coming back together, the closing of the Antagonist case, and my slowly returning memories. The plan was for us to use the newly renovated building for Burke Premier Events and have a nice formal event with everyone who could make it. Our guest list turned out to consist of my office, June, Mozzie, Sara, and any family that were able to attend.

After hearing about the plans Shield cornered Elizabeth and I to request permission to set up a stage and schedule a picture to be donated to the office as well as the Caffrey reveal. Unable to turn down such a request, as we were too curious as to what he had planned, we gave him full permission and he just needed to coordinate with El for dividing up the space.

When the night of the party came, everyone showed dressed up for the evening and admiring the lovely job that Shield and the others had done. Once the guest were present Shield stood up on the stage and called everyone to attention. He was standing next to a picture he introduce as being titled "White Collar" by Anonymous. Pulling off the cover he revealed a picture of the office with everyone depicted in amusing means utilizing personal jokes that the Caffrey team had learned over the years of working with us. We were informed that the artist had signed the picture and that the Caffrey secret was depicted in the image… we just had to look in order to uncover it for ourselves. Leaving us to ponder what he meant he parted with the announcement that the Caffrey reveal would be occurring in a few hours and in the meantime those who knew what was going on were going to have a last bit of fun.

Throughout the evening most of the conversation revolved around the picture with snickers at others expenses and amused expressions cast at those who hadn't seen how they were depicted. Receiving my fair share of glances and suppressed snickers I decided I would have to take a good look at the picture later, but at the moment I was more focused on what was going on with Caffrey.

It had started as I was simply standing around talking to various people. Caffrey would show up and join in the conversation before eventually dodging off on some pretext. Then a few minutes later he would show back up having no idea what we had been discussing with him before he left. I suspected that the Camden twins were pulling our legs and having a good joke at our expense, but there was something that didn't make that seem quite right. As I was thinking about it I remembered the case and how the Caffrey team had been in six places in an impossible space of time… could there be more than two playing the role? That seemed to be impossible because how many look alike could you have? Still, something was up and my gut told me that this is what the "fun" was, as well as the prelude to the reveal.

As the evening was getting ready to draw to a close Nate took the stage and informed us that it was time for the Caffrey team to introduce themselves and reveal the secret that had made the role possible. "First, I am going to introduce myself. My name is Nathan Camden and I work for the DEA. The role of Neal started after an hours old Neal Bennett died of unknown cause. His doctor feared that he would be blamed and face a malpractice lawsuit so he switched him with me and I was raised as Neal Bennett, became Danny Brooks, and learned the truth when I was eighteen. A difference is that I went to law school, I have a background in Art History, and am only a hobbyist when it comes to art. Finishing school I worked for a year and prepared to go to the academy when I turned eighteen, but when the time came Ellen revealed the truth and directed me down a different path. I became a 'no-named' agent and was put into the task of looking into old cohorts of my so called father's." Stepping aside he left the podium open for the next speaker.

Accepting the space, Neal started into his speech. "My name as most of you now know is Neal Camden. I work for the FBI in the Fraud division and am the child artist you have heard of as 'Neal.' My role in Caffrey started when I was investigating those same cohorts of James Bennett's and I met my brother. He was undercover, mistaken for me, nearly killed, and while he was in the hospital an investigation connected the dots and reunited us after over eighteen years apart. We played the dual role with him taking lead opposite of his lovely wife Kate while I tended the artistry side of the tasks." Moving to stand next to his brother Neal also stepped aside.

Stepping up from the floor Shield took the next part of the reveal. "Now here is where things are really going to get interesting. (He removed his method for hiding his identity). My name is Nicholas Neal Ryder but you have lately gotten to know me as Shield the Director of Operation Caffrey. I started working as the child prodigy 'Nicholas' and moved to working in the medical field. When Nate was hurt and in the hospital I was his physician and the one who connected who he really was. After he was released I continued to consult for the operation and eventually moved to consult for several others including you Peter (said with a smile in my direction). When I turned eighteen I joined the Air Force and worked my way up to Captain and eventually joined the NSA where I am the Director of Operations Dominoes, Caffrey, and Checkmate working under the code name of Shield." Here, he went silent turned to pull a box out of behind a temporary set of curtains and set it up on the podium. As we watched he opened up the box and began pulling things out and transforming his appearance. After a few minutes, he mystified us all as he revealed that he was another Caffrey. "When Caffrey was brought in to work with the FBI it was my idea as a means of keeping Peter, Elizabeth, and anyone else who might be targeted by the Antagonist safe. Being trained in a variety of skills it was my job to tend injuries, defuse traps, and divert problems before they could occur. Often when you thought I was off planning heist or sitting at home painting, I was actually arranging various task involved with protection. All in all, I am Caffrey number three." Putting his box back to the side he moved to join the first two Caffreys.

Having no idea what to expect we were still surprised as a fourth Caffrey stepped out of behind the curtains grinning. "Beyond being Caffrey number four I am Alexander Ryder or Bryce to separate me from Uncle Casey. I am a computer engineer, Army Ranger, and have the code name of Phantom as a Lead Agent in Charge with the CIA. After Nick started working in Operation Caffrey it didn't take long for me to tag along and help out." He too stepped over to join the growing line of Caffreys which left the space in front of the podium empty again.

Somewhat expecting it (but still surprised) we watched as a fifth Caffrey stepped out of behind the curtains. "The last of the Caffrey Five, I am the fifth and final Caffrey. My name is Zachary Levi Ryder or Zach as I tend to go by. I am a Navy Seal and code named Shadow with the NSA. Being more laid back that my over-achieving brothers (especially Nick) I don't have as long of a list of titles but I tend to play the backup roles filling in whenever another person is needed."

Standing as a collective group the Caffrey Five stood together and bowed to the stunned audience. " If you wouldn't mind we would like to have Peter, Will, and Ben join us on stage so that we can have our two honorary Caffreys who played the role in one-time events and our little Caffrey point five just because he would make the Caffrey Collection complete." Being pushed up to the stage I joined the others as a group of stools were brought out and we were requested to sit in a line with Nate holding little Ben for a question and answer session.

With the reveal complete and mysteries cleared the crowd began to disperse as people felt it was time to call it an evening and go home. Eventually the Caffreys had cleared the stage out of the room and the work was done except the last little bit of the lock down.

***

After the party I was waiting for Elizabeth to finish a few tasks in the back, so I stood studying the picture that was being donated to the office. Looking at the content I was reminded of what I had read or been told about the Caffrey Five. Standing there staring, my mind began to wander back into the past. Slowly at first, I was remembering some of my earliest memories. Then, like a burst of color exploding a crossed a screen the memories began to flow faster with fewer gaps. Memories of time spent with my parents, when the quads were born and I held Nick for the first time as I was told he was my God-brother, the many times I feared that "this was going to be the time" that the kid would die, family events, when I was taken, and what had transpired since. I stood transfixed as my mind finally caught up… I was remembering everything! When my life finished its run through I remained frozen in place with tears overflowing, a smile too wide for my face, and an exhausted energy that I couldn't explain as I reveled in knowing who I was after so long with darkness or a fractured image for memories of my past.

Soon enough I had to share what had happened, so I went looking for Elizabeth. She was closing down the building and had only the main room and the front exit left. Turning to me, she was surprised when I walked up to her, picked her up and spun her around a time or two. Putting her down I simply hugged her as I whispered "I remember…I remember everything." With her own tears running down her face she pulled back and looked at me with an expression that went beyond words yet conveyed everything she couldn't say. There was too much emotion so we simply stood there staring at each other.

Eventually, she kissed me and told me we had better finish getting the place locked up then she informed me that I would take her home before going to see Nick. Surprised, I stared at her for a moment trying to figure out where that had come from. She smiled and answered my expression telling me that she knew how much I had been missing Nick and that he had been waiting for me to remember him. Now I did remember, so it was time to at least let him know and give him a hug in person. Realizing that she was right, I informed her that I was lucky to be married to her and no matter how many times I told her that, it would never be enough to encompass just how lucky I was. Smiling, she kissed me again before instructing me on how to help with lock up.

***

Arriving at Nick's, a camera, light, and a two way speaker system were the only means of security and knowing who was at the door (that I could see). Stepping forward I pushed the button and waited for an answer hoping that I wasn't waking him up. After a moment I could hear a dog bark as a voice answered "Hello, Peter?" Responding, I confirmed that it was me and asked him if I could come in as we needed to talk. "I'll be down in a moment to let you in and bring you up." Shifting in place I waited for him. My stomach seemed to have butterflies but whether it was out of anticipation, nerves, or both was beyond me.

When he opened the door he was wearing basic sweats and an artsy t-shirt with his hair ruffled like he had been playing with Amity. Grinning at how much he looked like the kid I remembered him as I simply said "It has been a long time Primo-Irmán" and gave him a hug. After a startled inhilation of air, he hugged me back "That it has, Deus Irmán."

*******

Cuddling with Elizabeth on the couch she is sleeping against my shoulder. We talked late into the night about everything and anything as we are now getting to know each other all over again. Remembering my past there are some things that I am a different man than the one she married, just like she is a different woman with her real history in tact again. Smiling softly I remember that we had met as teenagers and while I had known that she had had a crush on a Ryan, I now know that I was that Ryan as well as remembering that I had had a crush on her too. There were so many things that I wanted to think about, questions I wanted answered, but the excitement was wearing off and I was tired. Settling back into my couch I could finally relax as the mysteries that had haunted me of late were cleared up, the new mysteries would be answered over time with the help of my family, and we have our whole lives ahead of us. We don't have a guarantee of how long we have, but we have now and the outlook of tommorrow to look forward to.

**The End... for the main story...**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes:
> 
> Deus Irmán - God Brother  
> Nova-Irmán – Little Brother
> 
> These are the nicknames that Peter and Nick had for each other in their own code (Galician according to google translate because I can't do codes).
> 
> Please, review/PM and put any questions you have about the story,Operation Caffrey, or the Caffrey Five and the character you want to be (if you have a preference). Keep them clean and I plan to write an excerpt to answer you questions using it as a question/answer option for the characters to show reactions as well as answer any questions of readers. If you don't have a question please leave a comment anyway. This is the end of my first story and I would like to know what you think as I continue to write other stories.
> 
> I tried to give a nod to those who have reviewed, favorited, followed, bookmarked, and left kudos between the two sites, but if I missed you, a final nod to all of those who have notified of me of their enjoyment for this story:D As to those lurkers who have been enjoying from your various corners of the world, an all inclusive thank you to you for reading this story:D And finally, another thank you to Quinis for your efforts to encourage me to write this, talking me through the writer's block, and for your efforts to review each chapter:D

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to tell me what you think, be it good, bad, or ugly, I just request that you keep comments clean.  
> Also, if there are any questions that you would like answered, or additional parts to the story that you would like to see, feel free to let me know and I may be able to get something written down for my growing list of excerpts (additional/alternate scenes ECT). Again, I ask that your requests be kept clean and a heads up that I will not be writing anything with sexual content (please keep them in the family/friendship and PG rated vicinity, thanks).  
> Thank “You” for reading! :D


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